Arsenal 2 City 1
Report by Kate Thompson
After Leicester City were in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, we finally got back to the football. I had been looking forward to visiting the Emirates Stadium for the first time, as every time I go on the train to London from my home in north Hertfordshire I go by it. To my amazement, Nigel Pearson featured on the back page of the Metro I picked up at the station. As many have said before, it isn’t easy being a Leicester City supporter!
My expectations of the stadium were not dashed, as I think it is probably the nicest one I have ever visited. Although the capacity is quite a bit lower than at Old Trafford, somehow it seemed more imposing – presumably down to the design. And the seats were very comfortable (and for once I was able to sit in mine for most of the game!).
Pearson experimented with a new formation, with three centre backs and two full backs, leaving Kramaric as the sole striker. I expected to see Robert Huth but Upson was a surprise; I’d forgotten that he used to play for Arsenal. With captain Morgan, they made a dominant spine of the team although I’m afraid Morgan was at fault (twice) for the first Arsenal goal and was pulled out of position more often than was comfortable.
Both Arsenal goals were good ones, but in both cases could have been prevented, but until they scored the first in the 27th minute City looked lively; Mahrez in particular was causing the Arsenal defenders a lot of trouble.
So the first goal, followed just before half-time by the second, came against the run of play. I was impressed by Huth and Upson, although the latter had to be substituted in the 59th minute, and of the three Morgan was the least effective.
Up front, Kramaric struggled in the first half but scored his first goal for the club in the 61st minute. He could have equalised when he opted to chip the goalkeeper rather than put some ‘welly’ behind his shot and Mahrez was only inches wide. In truth Arsenal were hanging on for most of the second half and their fans were very relieved at the final whistle.
Leicester did not play like a team becoming isolated at the bottom and deserved a point from this game. I did agree with Pearson who said that he is getting tired of bemoaning our luck. Wenger gave City praise and Theo Walcott has been quoted as saying Leicester were one of the best teams that Arsenal have played this season. But sadly all this good work has not been translated into points and we now have a mountain to climb.
The one weak link for me was Schlupp who looked totally out of his depth; I would have preferred Albrighton but his girlfriend did him no favours over the weekend with her tweet – when will these young men and women realise what harm social media can do? The other interesting thing is that the players’ heads do not appear to have dropped so there is a tiny glimmer of hope, but time is running out.
Wasilewski replaced Upson and two forwards came on for Morgan and Schlupp – Ulloa and Nugent, in the 80th and 85th minute. Sadly neither of them had much impact in the game, but then they hardly had time to.
And one curious thing: in the ‘Match of the Day’ coverage the graphics at the end showed Hamer was booked – how clever was that! Perhaps he said something while sitting on the bench?
Arsenal: Ospina, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Rosicky, Coquelin, Cazorla, Walcott (Ramsey 73), Sanchez (Giroud 68), Ozil. Subs not used: Szczesny, Gibbs, Gabriel, Welbeck
Leicester: Schwarzer, Simpson, Morgan (Ulloa 81), Huth, Upson (Wasilewski 59), Konchesky, Mahrez, James, Cambiasso, Schlupp (Nugent 86), Kramaric. Subs not used: Drinkwater, King, Albrighton, Hamer
Attendance: 60,032 Referee: Mike Jones
The views expressed in this report are the opinions of the Trust member nominated to file the report only and do not represent the views of the Foxes Trust organisation