Arsenal 4-2 Leicester PLAYER REVIEWS: Who was the Gunners’ ‘outstanding player’? Which star should have kept her hosts ‘out of sight’? So who lacked quality in their distribution?

Arsenal scored twice in stoppage time to secure a dramatic 4-2 victory over Leicester City on Saturday afternoon.

Arsenal made a dominant start to the match, taking the lead through Gabriel Martinelli and doubling their half-time advantage with Leandro Trossard’s excellent finish.

But Leicester refused to lie down and James Justin struck twice in the first 18 minutes of the second half to restore parity. Just as Arsenal looked set to lose two precious points, Trossard emerged again to head home a winner with a deflection from Wilfred Ndidi in the fourth minute of stoppage time before Kai Havertz poked the ball in from close range to seal the victory.

So who were the Gunners’ standout players? So who had a game to forget?

Mail Sport’s IAN HERBERT was there to evaluate the Arsenal players at the Emirates.

Arsenal

David Raya 6 – I barely got involved. Too powerless to prevent Leicester’s deflected goal or James Justin’s superb second. good distribution

Jurrien Timber 6.5 – Excellent link-up with Saka to set up first Arsenal goal and impressive overall

William Saliba 6.5 – There was no problem with any of the defenders. A quiet afternoon for Saliba despite the tension building in front of him and being released by Arsenal’s winner

Gabriel Magalhaes 6 – Leicester were not always able to dominate their own penalty area when they posed more of a threat in the second half, but Arsenal’s late pursuit of a lead proved a lethal distraction in the opposition half.

Riccardo Calafiori’s 6 – Effective box-to-box play leaves Rice, who is effective in the centre, behind as cover. Received a yellow card after losing the footrace with Buonanotte, he made the mistake of allowing Justin the freedom to score a superb equaliser, and had the chance to avoid a second yellow after a poor tackle against Buonanotte

Thomas Partey 5.5 – Calm central presence but couldn’t find the delivery quality and often had to go sideways when packing Leicester boxes

Declan Rice 7 – Consistently influential and the architect of much of Arsenal’s research. Metronomic cross balls to Saka but could not execute the can opener pass to put Leicester ahead in a disappointing second half

Bukayo Saka 8 – Arsenal’s outstanding player. The stand-in skipper littered the right side and made life difficult for Wilfred Ndidi (who had to be booked after the No7 gave him a nutmeg) and Victor Kristiansen all afternoon.

Leandro Trossard 7.5 – The impassive look on his face as he bent his body to score Arsenal’s second goal was the look of a man with a point to prove after being substituted last weekend. Perfect for small pockets of space in the Leicester area. He was denied by a great save but the winner was poked and deflected away from the hosts.

Kai Havertz 5.5 – It’s the lack of a spectacular finish that could put Arsenal out of their sights. The disallowed first-half header was indicative of a lack of clinical finishing. A half-hearted attempt to defend the free kick before Justin’s header was deflected towards Leicester’s goal.

Gabriel Martinelli’s 6.5 – Suddenly he is threatened. Arsenal’s well-taken opening goal turns in Timber’s cross. He could have scored before that, but a fierce first touch from Saka’s cross preceded the shot that went over the bar

Reserves

Sterling (Martinelli for 74) 6 – Last cameo on the left but fails to find the breakthrough

Ethan Nwaneri (for Martinelli 84) 7 – Made an immediate and spectacular impact, making one of Hermansen’s great saves

Manager

Mikel Arteta 8

Leicester City (4-2-3-1) Hermansen 9; Justin 6, Okoli 5, Faes 5.5, Kristiansen 6; Winks 5.5, Skipp 5 (El Khannouss 90); Ndidi 5.5 (Edouard 90), Buonanotte 7 (Ayew 84 5), Mavididi 5.5 (Cordova-Reid 91); Vardy 5.5, Unused substitutes: Ward, Ricardo, Coady, Fatawu, Choudhury,

Manager

Steve Cooper 7

Judge

S Barrott 6