Premier League: Late drama at The Emirates
Arsenal 4 - 2 Leicester City
The Gunners snatched a thrilling victory over Leicester at the Emirates Stadium with two stoppage-time goals.
An own goal from Wilfred Ndidi in the 94th minute, followed by a close-range finish from Kai Havertz deep into injury time, crushed Leicester's hopes of an unlikely point after they had clawed back from two goals down in the second half.
Gabriel Martinelli had put the Gunners ahead in the first half with a composed finish from Jurrien Timber’s cross, before setting up Leandro Trossard for a second goal right on the brink of half-time.
Leicester barely threatened in the first half, managing only a single touch in Arsenal’s box before the break. However, they pulled one back just over a minute into the second half when James Justin’s header from Facundo Buonanotte’s free-kick deflected off Havertz and into the net.
Justin then levelled the score in spectacular fashion, lashing home a swerving volley from Ndidi's left-wing cross just after the hour mark, which beat David Raya via the inside of the post.
Although Leicester’s comeback briefly rattled Arsenal, they soon regained their composure. Mads Hermansen produced two excellent saves to keep the Foxes in the game, blocking a close-range shot from Havertz and then denying Trossard after a mistake in his own area.
However, Trossard’s late shot was deflected into the net by Ndidi, before Havertz sealed the win with a tap-in from close range in the dying moments.
Arsenal remain one point behind leaders Liverpool, but draw level on points with Manchester City, who were held to a draw by Newcastle.
Premier League: 2024/2025 season (eurosuperfootball.blogspot.com)
A closer look at the late drama
For Arsenal, it almost felt inevitable—after the tumultuous week they’d had—that it would be a corner that made the difference, and that Leandro Trossard would be the one to step up. The fallout from last Sunday’s fiery and chaotic 2-2 draw with Manchester City had dominated discussion all week, with much of the attention on Trossard’s controversial second yellow card for time-wasting. But here, he redeemed himself, coming to his team’s rescue.
It seemed like Arsenal might once again let two points slip from a winning position, as they had twice already this season. The story was shaping up to be one of missed opportunities, a sensational second-half display from Leicester right-back James Justin, and a heroic performance by their goalkeeper, Mads Hermansen.
Justin had pulled one back with a deflected header before smashing home a sublime volley to level the score. Meanwhile, Hermansen was a brick wall, making 13 saves—the most by a Premier League keeper since David de Gea's masterclass against Arsenal in 2017.
Despite Arsenal’s complete control in the first half, with goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Trossard, it started to look like their dominance would go unrewarded as they struggled to break through again in normal time.
Best Leicester reaction
It was an extraordinary match. We went out to search for some of the best reaction to the drama.
Paul, a Leciester fan, wasn't happy with the performance. He watched the match from the home end. He told us: "We didn't deserve anything from that. I know my fellow Leicester fans probably want to hear this, but a draw would have been enormously flattering. I would have taken it, but the Gunners outplayed us in every aspect.
"The first half was terrible as we didn't create any scoring opportunities. The second half was an improvement, but our performance was still not great. We managed to score two goals, one through a lucky deflection and the other with an amazing shot. It would have been great to at least get a draw, but it would have been a fortunate result considering how we played."
