Arsenal beat Leicester City in dramatic fashion at the Emirates.
The Gunners were always the favourites to pick up all three points and the way they started the game showed who was the better side.
Gabriel Martinelli broke his goal drought by scoring after just 20 minutes and Leandro Trossard then doubled Arsenal’s lead just before half-time. James Justin threw a spanner in the works by scoring a brace in the second half to level the score.
Leicester held on to 2-2 until the 93rd minute of the game and felt like they were going to pick up a point. But, two late goals from Arsenal gave the win to the team that deserved it.
Why Mikel Arteta was angry on the touchline during Arsenal vs Leicester
Arsenal have had quite a few refereeing decisions go against them recently.
The Declan Rice red card against Brighton is still a ridiculous call in our eyes, while Leandro Trossard’s sending-off at Manchester City was equally absurd.
The Gunners were furious with both decisions.
Even against Leicester, the referee decided against showing a red card to Oliver Skipp for his horrible challenge on Gabriel Martinelli.
That would’ve definitely changed the game, but something else happened in the second half that made Arteta really angry.
In the 56th minute of the game, when the ball flew out of the pitch for a throw-in, Arteta acted as a ball boy, caught it and handed it over to Martinelli for a quick restart.
Leicester right-back Justin obstructed the Brazilian just as he was about to throw the ball, and the referee didn’t do anything about it.
Arteta, who was furious, put his hands in the air and charged out of his box. He was screaming at the referee as both Rice and Trossard had previously been punished for a similar offence.
Even after the game restarted, Arteta was seen complaining to the fourth official. He wasn’t happy with the inconsistency.
Leicester manager says two decisions went Arsenal’s way
Leicester City boss Steve Cooper was, unsurprisingly, disappointed with the result.
The Foxes came so close to stealing a point at the Emirates, but two late goals – one in the 94th minute and another in the 99th – broke their hearts.
Cooper got himself a yellow card for complaining to the referee after William Saliba’s challenge on Jamie Vardy was deemed to be legal.
The Leicester boss was also unhappy that Riccardo Calafiori wasn’t shown a second yellow card after he made a foul on Facundo Buonanotte. Even Arteta was ‘really worried’ about Calafiori at that point.
Cooper said, as per Leicester Live: “We were very disappointed with a foul not being given on Vards for the first goal. And although we don’t come into games trying to get players sent off, why he hasn’t sent off Calafiori is a little bit beyond belief.
“Because of the spell we’re in and the spell that I’m in personally, I’m trying to not let referees’ decisions be the headline, as I’m trying to take responsibility for a team that needs to get better results.
“But we feel those were two poor decisions.”
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