Player Ratings: Arsenal 4 – 2 Leicester City-hermansen-justin-cooper

City of Leicester He suffered a heartbreaking defeat at the Emirates on Saturday. Two goals in extra time condemned City to a 4-2 defeat, even though it looked like they might escape with a draw. There were some great performances, some very good performances, and also some forgettable performances. Let’s apply the rule to players and separate the wheat from the chaff and…wait, why would anyone want to be the wheat? I don’t know. I guess wheat is fair. O. good. Anyway, let’s do this:

Mads Hermansen-9

He did everything a goalkeeper could do to protect his team in the match. He was not at fault for any of the 4 goals and the majority of his 13 (THIRteen) saves were from senior players. Whether the team deserved a point or not, they certainly did.

James Justin-8

There was some luck in his first goal, but his second was a truly otherworldly goal. He was left largely alone on the wing and coped as well as hoped. Arsenal probably should have marked Trossard when they won but overall it was a strong performance.

Photo: Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images

Wout Faes – 6

We had a composed performance and probably a better performance than the two middle halves of the day. Because the Foxes were defending very, very deep, I had to spend a lot of time just a meter or two away from the goal line.

Caleb Okoli – 6

It is a very reliable match for Okoli, who is playing against one of the best teams in the league. He (and the rest of the Leicester defense) were too slow to react to the cross that led to Arsenal’s first goal.

Victor Kristiansen – 7

Like his counterpart on the right, he was asked to defend alone against the winger and other players attacking his area. It gets better with every release.

Oliver Skipp – 5

I like Skipp, but this wasn’t his day. Did not provide adequate protection for the back line and especially Justin. Arsenal exploited the spaces between themselves and their midfielders to devastating effect.

Harry Winks – 5

The match was a little too fast for him. While he is not expected to provide the same defensive support as his former Spurs team-mate, he is the man who needs to be the starting point to protect the ball and ease the pressure on the defence. A pass rate of just 79% is not up to his standards.

Photo: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Facundo Buonanotte – 7

His free kick was cleared by Justin (with some help from the Arsenal defence) and apart from that he looked very positive on the ball. He doesn’t defend with the same confidence as Fatawu, but overall it was a solid game.

Wilfred Ndidi – 7

Even if there was nothing he could have done, I have to give him a point for his own goal. He added to his assist tally with a looping cross to Justin and earned a match-high 8 tackles. He is not a traditional number 10 and this may not be the best place for him, but he remains one of our indispensable assets.

Photo: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Steph Mavididi – 6

It would have been nice for him to put in a good performance against his former club, but Timber kept him quiet for most of the afternoon. Kristiansen returned well to help the defense after a poor start.

Jamie Vardy-6

He did a good job receiving the ball and could have made an assist when he picked out Justin early on, but he didn’t see the ball enough to make much impact. No shot on target, which makes sense as he didn’t attempt a shot for 90 minutes.

Reserves

Jordan Ayew – 5

He arrived late to see the match and had a chance to cause trouble, but his first touch wasn’t enough. No effect.

Bobby De Cordova-Reid – NR

He arrived just in time to see Arsenal score. There are not enough minutes to change the game.

Bilal El Khannouss – NR

He arrived just in time to see Arsenal score. There are not enough minutes to change the game.

Odsonne Edouard – NR

It was introduced in the last seconds. Arsenal were probably happy to see the clock pass for substitutions.

Abdul Fatawu – NR

It was introduced in the last seconds. Arsenal were probably happy to see the clock pass for substitutions.

Manager – 5

Look, if you squint, you might say, “Keeping this team in the game for 93 minutes means their plan worked and the lucky own goal left us devastated.” This is true but misleading. We were never really in the game; We were extremely lucky to be level and the goal that beat us was probably the one that came straight from the goal without any deflection and came from Arsenal’s 17th corner. Only the goalkeeper’s heroic effort kept us there.

Photo: ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images

Despite having written nearly 500 articles for this site and following the Foxes for nearly 30 years, I must admit that I still do not have a very good intellectual understanding of football tactics. So I really enjoy being able to watch a team and instantly understand what they’re all about. Martin O’Neill Leicester teams weren’t very tactically advanced but everyone could see the game plan and if the fans understood it, you knew the players did too.

Arsenal were set up to attack wide areas, isolate the full-backs and then try to cut the ball between two defensive lines. It was clear. They did this many times. I ask you: what was Leicester’s plan? How did the Foxes plan to nullify the Arsenal attack? Where would the goals come from? Maybe some of you understand the details of the topic better than I do and can answer this question. I have no idea. It looked something like this: “Defend deep, hope for lucky breaks, and hoof the ball every time you see it.” This is not a plan; This is just hoping you figure something out.

So…I’m worried. I think this team has the talent to survive. I’m not convinced the master has figured out how to use these to do this.

Man of the Match: Mads Hermansen

Once Leicester equalised, Arsenal increased the pressure and created chance after chance. Hermansen was on equal footing with all of them until his own man put the ball into the net. It was a heroic performance, and I don’t use that term lightly. That alone almost earned us a point.