Leicester 0-1 Arsenal: Player ratings as Martinelli grabs only goal

Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the Premier League table to five points following a 1-0 victory over Leicester on Saturday afternoon.

The Gunners imposed their will on their hosts from the outset, but the Foxes did an impressive job in initially limiting the visitors to low-quality efforts on Danny Ward’s goal.

Leandro Trossard thought he’d given Arsenal the lead midway through the first half, but his thunderous strike was ruled out after Ben White was adjudged to have held Ward in the build-up to the goal. However, VAR failed to intervene when Harry Souttar appeared to haul Bukayo Saka down in the box for what looked like a clear penalty.

Thus, it was a frustrating end to the half for Mikel Arteta’s side, as the two sides went into half-time goalless.

The Gunners quickly forgot about the injustices of the opening period as Gabriel Martinelli rolled home the opener immediately after the restart. The goal ignited the visitors, who sought to end the contest before the hour. A second goal never arrived, however, and Leicester began to fancy their chances of snatching an equaliser.

Arteta sought to manage the contest by replacing Martin Odegaard for Thomas Partey, and the visitors were successfully able to hold onto their advantage to secure another huge three points in the title race.

Leicester 0-1 Arsenal player ratings

Here are the Arsenal player ratings from their slender victory at Leicester.

Goalkeeper & Defenders

Aaron Ramsdale (GK) – 6/10 – Finally, a clean sheet for Rambo!

Ben White (RB) – 6/10 – Wasn’t too adventurous when Arsenal had the ball, but did his job going the other way. Harvey Barnes rarely had the chance to face him up one-vs-one.

William Saliba (CB) – 7/10 – Sloppy in possession on occasions, but Saliba was faultless in the defensive phase. Defended the transition excellently and covered well in wide areas.

Gabriel (CB) – 8/10 – A stellar showing from the Brazilian. Gabriel shunned everything that was thrown his way on Saturday afternoon.

Oleksandr Zinchenko (LB) – 7.5/10 – Arsenal’s captain on the day was excellent. Leicester had no answer for his technical brilliance, as the Gunners were easily able to bypass the Foxes’ press throughout.

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