Premier League

LEICESTER CITY 1 (Tielemans 6)
ARSENAL 3 (Luiz 39, Lacazette 45+2 pen, Pepe 52)

ARSENAL produced their second fightback in four days to earn a surprising 3-1 victory over Leicester City this afternoon (Sunday) at the King Power Stadium.

Mikel Arteta made six changes from the side that scored two late goals to beat Benfica 3-2 on Thursday and book their place in the last-16 of the Europa League.

But the Gunners new look starting line-up proved just as dogged as they bounced back from conceding a goal within minutes of the kick-off to secure their first win away to a top-three team in the league since 2015.

“Coming here after a very short turnaround from Benfica, and going down very early on, put us in a really difficult position against a Leicester team that probably is the best in that area,” said Arteta after the final whistle.

“I think we played some really good moments in the game, and looked really solid. We dominated the game and I think overall we deserved the win.”

Arsenal made the worst possible start when, with just six minutes on the clock, Youri Tielemens was allowed to run unchecked into the box before firing a low shot into the far corner.

But to their credit the visitors didn’t let their heads drop, and went on to dominate the contest. David Luiz brought them level, finding space in the box to get on the end of Willian’s free-kick and steer a well-placed header past Kasper Schmeichel.

VAR had earlier correctly denied Arsenal a penalty after Wilfred Ndidi brought down Nicolas Pepe just outside the box. But the same two players were involved again in the moment that led to the Gunners going in at the break 2-1 up.

This time Ndidi blocked Pepe’s shot in the box with an outstretched arm, allowing Alexandre Lacazette to confidently step-up and complete the comeback from the spot.

Pepe wrapped up the win with a simple close-range finish early in the second-half after Willian’s pass had deflected into his path.

Acknowledging the changes he made to his team, Arsenal boss Arteta said: “Probably people will think that it was a gamble but I see them train every day and they are playing because they deserve to play.

“When they deserve to play, I think players have to feel supported and valued. The only way to do it is to play them.

“In football, anything can happen but I think the performance levels they’ve shown is not a coincidence, it’s the way they’ve prepared themselves and how they’ve prepared themselves every day.”

Leicester City: Schmeichel, Castagne, Soyuncu, Evans (Amartey, 69), Thomas (Albrighton, 45), Ndidi, Tielamans, Pereira, Iheanacho, Barnes (Under, 51), Vardy
Substitutes not used: Ward, Choudhury, Mendy, Fuchs, Daley-Campbell, Tavares

Arsenal: Leno, Soares, Mari, Luiz, Tierney, Elneny (Partey, 66), Xhaka, Willian, Smith Rowe (Odegaard, 42), Pepe, Lacazette (Aubameyang, 84)
Substitutes not used: Ryan, Bellerin, Saka, Ceballos, Holding, Martinelli