Arsenal 1-1 Leicester City
Despite controlling the match for the most part, it only took a few minutes for Arsenal to blow their lead in what was a cruel twist of fate.
When Eddie Nketiah was given the red card in the 75th minute, the Gunners were reduced to 10 men and the Foxes quickly pounced on the opportunity to draw level in order to salvage a point.
Jamie Vardy continues to sparkle for Leicester City. With his late Premier League goal last night, the 33-year-old striker pushed his goal count to 22 as of this writing, further increasing his Premier League 2020 odds of bringing home the Golden Boot award after this season.
Last night’s result surely helps for Leicester City, although they’ve slipped to the fourth place after being overtaken by Chelsea.
They’ve a had a rough restart by drawing level against lower tier teams in Watford, Brighton, and then losing to Chelsea and Everton, before snapping their winless drought against Crystal Palace prior to this match.
Team manager Brendan Rodgers would hope that they will improve from there since teams like Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham, and the Wolves are breathing down their necks for the final Champions League berth.
As for Arsenal, they still sit at seventh place with 50 points. However, Mikel Arteta’s men are far from satisfied.
Here is last night’s set of Premier League 2020 highlights by SBOBET.
Highlights of the game
Since receiving the news of Mikel Arteta wanting to keep him on the roster beyond this season, it seems that it lit up a flame under Dani Ceballos.
The loanee from Real Madrid churned out a strong performance for around 70 minutes as he maintained his superb post-lockdown form.
Ceballos pulled the strings in the middle for the majority of the first half, which includes a lovely pass in the 21st minute that triggered an opportunity for Bukayo Saka to find a cutting Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to score his 20th goal for this campaign.
Then a few minutes later, Ceballos had a cheeky back-heel pass to a running Bukayo Saka, who crossed the ball inside for an Alexandre Lacazette strike that was saved by Kasper Schmeichel.
While Arsenal were thriving, Leicester City were struggling to create chances all evening long.
Their first viable opportunity only came when Kelechi Iheanacho almost punched one in for Leicester City after he received a volley from Jamie Vardy. But at the time, it was Emiliano Martinez who saved the day for Arsenal.
Ceballos continued to impress Mikel Arteta and co. as he would continue to dictate the pace in the midfield. Along with creating plays for his speedy teammates, the young Spaniard also provided excellent cover on the defencive end alongside Granit Xhaka.
So when he was replaced by Eddie Nketiah late, it was natural that Arsenal’s downfall started to go from there.
When Eddie Nketiah got tangled with James Justin via a high tackle at the 75th minute, he was initially given a yellow card by the referee. However, the decision was upgraded to a red card after further review by the VAR.
With fatigue kicking in for Arsenal as they were being reduced to 10 men, it was inevitable for Brendan Rodgers’ men to capitalise.
In the 84th minute, Demarai Gray’s low pass slipped through Arsenal’s compact defence and Jamie Vardy was at the right place and at the right time to kick the ball past Emiliano Martinez for their first and only goal of the night.
It was a disappointing end to the evening for the Gunners, who felt like they were robbed of the two points.
But overall, there were still plenty of positives to take for Mikel Arteta with their performance almost all night.
The same can be said for Dani Ceballos, whose great performance should guarantee himself more playing time for Arsenal moving forward.
Key statistics
To describe the impact of Dani Ceballos in this game, allow me to indulge you with some of his key statistics.
The young midfielder had 68 touches and has also completed 44 passes and six crosses. He also gained possession 11 times, which is more than any Arsenal player.
Vardy’s latest attacking exploit earned him his 22nd goal for this season. It was also his 10th goal in his 10th appearance versus the Gunners.
Not far behind him is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, as he now has 20 goals after scoring one last night.
What’s next?
Arsenal will head on over to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to lock horns with the Spurs on Sunday before hosting Liverpool next week in what should be a high-scoring, fast-paced affair.
Leicester City, meanwhile will visit AFC Bournemouth on Monday before heading back home to host Sheffield United on July 17th.
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