Arsenal 2-0 Leicester: 4 talking points as Gunners go fourth

A thoroughly professional Arsenal performance pushed aside Leicester City 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. A goal in each half from Thomas Partey and Alexandre Lacazette was enough to see the Gunners cruise back into the top four.

Mikel Arteta went with the same side that defeated Watford 3-2 last time out in the Premier League, with consistency in results matched by consistency in selections. The team looks extremely settled. Emile Smith Rowe returned to the squad after a bout of Covid, but there was still no place for Takehiro Tomiyasu.

Both teams started well, but it was Arsenal who grew into the game more and they were duly rewarded soon after.

It took Arsenal just 11 minutes to grab the lead. A corner fizzed in from Martinelli was met by the head of Thomas Partey who gave the Gunners a deserved early goal. With the lead in hand, the Gunners continued to pressure the visitors but couldn’t double their advantage.

Arsenal 2-0 Leicester: 4 talking points as Gunners go fourth with goals from Thomas Partey and Alexandre Lacazette sealing crucial Premier League win

Leicester grew into the game and towards the end of the first half were dominant, with Harvey Barnes forcing a superb save from Aaron Ramsdale with a close-range header. Despite its good work, the Foxes went into the sheds at half-time 1-0 down, although still very much in the game.

With just over ten minutes gone in the second half, Arsenal was awarded a penalty after Caglar Soyuncu was adjudged to have handled the ball in the box with an outstretched hand.

Alexandre Lacazette thundered home his penalty to give Arsenal a 2-0 lead with 30 minutes remaining. Mikel Arteta’s side was able to see out the rest of the game with the utmost of ease as it was yet another three points for the impressive Gunners.

The game provided plenty of talking points, here they are.

1. Martin Odegaard the Conductor of the Orchestra

It’s regular occurrence for the Norwegian. There is no end to his brilliance. On Sunday, he was on another level. Again.

While Arsenal was supposedly in for James Maddison last summer as their creative dynamo on an astronomical fee, today Odegaard was levels above the Englishman – and for half the price.

His body feints, neat flicks, vision to pick out passes no one else would even envisage, and superb build-up with Bukayo Saka were a sight to behold. At times he was nearly unplayable, doing as he pleased in the right half-spaces.

Constantly assuming possession and gliding past defenders before threading passes at will, this level of technical accomplishment is now eerily reminiscent of a certain German No.10 that called Arsenal home for years.

Odegaard is playing with a supreme confidence he’s never had previously in his career and it is showing. No Leicester player could get near him as he dished up a masterclass in how to control games from a technical standpoint. With each passing week, the Norwegian is proving to be one of Arteta’s best ever signings.

How can you not talk about him?

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