Arsenal player ratings in their 1-0 win over Leicester City
Arsenal registered a narrow yet comfortable victory against Leicester City at the King Power stadium on February 25th.
The win helped the Gunners maintain a two-point cushion at the top of the Premier League ladder, with a game in hand. They also extended their fine run of form against Leicester, winning their fifth successive league game over the Foxes.
Although goalless, the first-half saw both sides putting the ball in the back of the net. Leandro Trossard masterfully picked the top corner from a pull-back from Granit Xhaka. A VAR check followed, surfacing a Ben White foul on Danny Ward prior to Bukayo Saka’s inswinger.
Just two minutes later, it looked like that decision would rub salt on Arsenal’s wounds as Kelechi Iheanacho netted from an offside position.
The breakthrough was inspired by Mikel Arteta’s half-time team talk, with Gabriel Martinelli scoring 51 seconds into the second half. On paper it might feel like Arsenal had their task cut out, but with Leicester firing tame shots and only managing their first effort on goal in the 74th minute of the game, it was more of a plain sail.
Without further delay then, we analyze how each Arsenal player fared in their convincing victory over the Foxes.
Aaron Ramsdale – 7/10
Leicester didn’t have anything whatsoever to trouble Aaron Ramsdale. While he was confident with the ball and dominant in the air, it was an unchallenging 10th clean sheet of the league season for Aaron Ramsdale.
Ben White – 7/10
White has now pleasantly taken to his role as a right-back. Proactively stepping up to block any space for Harvey Barnes and excellently playing out from the back, he showed exactly why he’s the trusted man down the right.
William Saliba – 7/10
Saliba has come under considerable scrutiny in recent weeks, but he bounced back with another imperious display from the heart of Arsenal’s defense.
Gabriel Magalhaes – 8.5/10
While Saliba was playing the zonal role amongst the centre-halves, Gabriel happened to be the one clearing crosses, dangerous balls into the box as well as lunging to keep Tete out early in the game.
Oleksandr Zinchenko – 7/10
Zinchenko, who proudly donned the captain’s armband, was the real game-changer if viewed tactically. On one hand, out of possession when required, he would turn into a narrowly-positioned left-back, albeit rarely as the Gunners enjoyed the lion’s share of possession.
Morphing into a left-sided midfielder with Jorginho, Arsenal were able to play around and beyond the Leicester midfielders.
“It was great because it was an initiative from the players. Martin [Ødegaard] came to me yesterday and they wanted to have that gesture with him. Today we wanted to win for him, for his loved ones, and for all the Ukrainian people that I think has inspired the world with that fighting spirit and with the togetherness they showed as a country,” said Arteta after the game, demonstrating just how tightly knit his group is.
Martin Odegaard – 6.5/10
Odegaard occupied some outstanding positions in transition and controlled the pace of the midfield well. Another solid display.
Jorginho – 9/10
It’s fair to say arguably Arsenal’s most crucial midfielder, Thomas Partey, hasn’t been missed due to Jorginho’s expertise in the middle.
The former Chelsea vice-captain was everywhere, spraying passes across the pitch and shunting down Leicester’s attacking passages before it came to any sort of fruition.
Granit Xhaka – 7.5/10
Xhaka, one of the revelations of this season, continued to live up to his billing with effervescent work rate, tactical fouls and freeing up space by overloading the left.
Bukayo Saka – 7/10
A strong contender for the PFA player of the season, Saka was once again fearlessly running at the opposition full-back, not shying away from taking them on. On another day, he could have won a penalty for his side, or bagged a goal if Martinelli wasn’t offside in the 55th minute when the Brazilian unselfishly squared the ball to him.
Leandro Trossard – 6/10
Trossard’s signing is one of the club’s most underrated, shrewd pieces of business. Not only is the Belgian in his prime, carrying bundles of experience in the English top-flight, but is one of the most versatile forwards in the league.
Today, he was plotted as a false nine and scored a pearler of a goal in the opening 45, only for it to be chalked off for a foul by White in the build-up. He had his moment later, poking a smart pass into Martinelli’s path for the decisive goal.
Gabriel Martinelli – 8/10
Despite getting into promising positions, Martinelli was at the receiving end of possession lost early on. What matters is the three points, and that was courtesy of his well-taken goal.
Substitutes
Eddie Nketiah – 5/10
Didn’t have too many passes or final threads of balls played in to enjoy an impactful appearance off the bench.
Thomas Partey – N/A
Arteta and the Arsenal faithful will be elated to have their midfield’s commander-in-chief back to match fitness.
Takehiro Tomiyasu – N/A
Brought on as a tactical substitution to run down the final minutes on the clock.
-Akarshak Roy
Twitter: @RoyAkarshak
Photo: Ank Kumar. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.