Match Review: Leicester City 0 – 0 Arsenal

Second half

Leicester City kicked off and again, just like in the first half looked immediately to get on the front foot with Albrighton whipping in a cross which saw Arsenal right-back Hector Bellerin stick a last minute foot in to take the ball away from Jamie Vardy.

The 53rd minute saw Mendy come off for Andy King after he got his foot caught in the turf, luckily for the foxes he walked away from the injury unlike Matty James who got injured towards the end of the 2014/15 and missed out on the entire title winning campaign through injury.

Two minutes later saw hot headed Coquelin push his luck even further after being bamboozled by Mahrez’s quick feet, step overing away from Francis saw him get tripped up and he should  have been sent off. A stinker from Clattenberg there.

The subsequent freekick was taken by the Algerian himself which goalkeeper Petr Cech saw go just over the bar as the ball failed to dip in time.

Up until the 73rd minute it looked Like Leicester City were the most likely to open the scoring, looking more dangerous on the attack as Walcott was getting very little service and when he did he was either offside or quickly seized upon by captain Wes Morgan and Robert Huth.

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This was until a double change by Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger saw Cazorla and Xhaka come off for Ozil and Wilshere respectively.

This is when Arsenal went up a gear, with the creative force of both Ozil and Wilshere on the pitch they were able to unlock the tight two lines of four by Leicester City which made them so successful last season.

Arsenal had plenty of chances to capitalise over the next 14 minutes but failed to do so despite now having quality balls coming in.

The gunners came close when they saw Sanchez twist and turn his way into the foxes penalty box and threading a ball into Ozil who couldn’t adjust his feet to get a shot away quick enough and was dispossessed.

The game turned completely on it’s head again as Marc Albrighton came off for the home side in place of record signing Ahmed Musa.

It didn’t take long for Musa to make an impact and after beating Bellerin on the byline he made his way into the penalty box where he was bought down by the Spaniard. Yet again Mark Clattenberg waved play on despite protests from the foxes, a stonewall penalty and another stinker from Clattenberg.

It’s not been Mark’s finest game, that’s for sure. However he was right in giving a foul to Ulloa after he was bought down just outside of Arsenal’s box in the 92nd minute, nervous times for Gunners fans as PFA Player of the year Riyad Mahrez and Danny Drinkwater both lined up to take the freekick.

In the end it was taken by Danny Drinkwater who hit the ball firm and hard but into the path of club veteran Andy King.

This looked to be the last play of the game which saw the match end in a goalless stalemate, quite a difference from the 5 – 2 thriller we saw at the King Power last season.

This was always going to be a tough game for both Leicester City and Arsenal after both teams lost their opening fixture.

Leicester City will rightfully feel hard done by with the refereeing decisions but should be very happy with the way they defended.

The backline of the foxes was solid all game and with Mendy coming back into the side after not appearing last week due to his wife giving birth to his baby son, he looks to add balance to the midfield which is needed after N’Golo Kante was lured away from the King Power to Chelsea this summer.

Foxes fans should be happy with the way their team performed today despite drifting in and out of the game, which is to be expected against a side that loves to hog possession like Arsenal and when you play a counter-attacking style as Leicester City do.

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With Swansea City coming up next week, Leicester City fans will be confident of a good result should they play as they did today.

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