Arsenal beat Leicester to return to fourth

Arsenal strengthened their grip on a top-four finish with a 2-0 win over Leicester City at the Emirates Stadium.

Thomas Partey’s header gave the Gunners an early lead and Alexandre Lacazette made it two from the spot just before the hour mark after Caglar Soyuncu’s handball.

The three points lift Arsenal back above Manchester United into fourth, one point ahead of them with three games in hand. Leicester remain in 12th.

How Arsenal won it

Brendan Rodgers will be frustrated that errors undermined Leicester but Mikel Arteta’s men were better in the big moments.

Partey nearly doubled Arsenal’s advantage in a dominant opening display from the home side when he hit the crossbar, although Leicester did come back into the contest.

Harvey Barnes came close before Ben White put in a vital tackle on James Maddison but it was Aaron Ramsdale’s superb save from Barnes that kept Arsenal ahead at the break.

The penalty took the game away from the visitors, referee Anthony Taylor being told by the VAR to check the monitor when Partey’s header touched Soyuncu’s fingertips.

The contact was clear on the slow-motion replays, with Luke Thomas’ goal-line clearance sparing the Turkey international defender the red card. Lacazette made no mistake.

The home side were able to enjoy themselves from there on in with the impressive Martin Odegaard conducting the game to its conclusion – a fifth consecutive Premier League win.

Arsenal hold the advantage in the race for a top-four finish, and not just because of their points total and the number of games in hand, but also because they are playing far better football than their rivals.

Man of the match: Martin Odegaard

“He has got the ball on a piece of string sometimes,” said former Arsenal striker Alan Smith, on co-commentary for Sky Sports at the Emirates Stadium. Back in the studio, Jamie Redknapp agreed. “He looks incredible at the moment, his confidence is sky high.”

Some of Odegaard’s football had the crowd gasping with delight, one reverse pass to Bukayo Saka had not been spotted by half of the supporters in the stadium but the Norwegian saw it and executed it even at pitch level. His vision adds a new dimension to Arsenal.

Odegaard created five chances for his team-mates in the first half alone and it is not just that creativity – he works too. Nobody in the Arsenal team won back possession more times in the final third. He was the clear man of the match. “Smooth as silk,” added Smith.

Analysis: Leicester’s set-piece problems continue

Even going into the game, Leicester had conceded the most goals from corners of any Premier League team this season and it did not take long for that weakness to undermine them once again. That inability to keep the ball out keeps costing them.

Thomas was the man marking Partey but he found himself underneath the ball while Barnes and Ricardo Pereira could not get close enough to the Arsenal midfielder either. Partey, incredibly, was completely unmarked to score.

Brendan Rodgers’ side played some good football after that, twice testing Ramsdale, and it would have been a fair reflection of the game if they had gone in level at half-time. But when cheap goals are given away, the rest does not matter. It is a recurring problem.

What’s next?

Arsenal will next face Liverpool in the Premier League on Wednesday March 16 at 8.15pm, live on Sky Sports.

Leicester will return to Europa Conference League action when they take on Rennes in the second leg of their last-16 tie on Thursday March 17 at 5.45pm. The next Premier League game for the Foxes will be played against Brentford on Sunday March 20 at 2pm.