Published: 10 February, 2015
by TOM FOOT at the Emirates Stadium

Premier League
ARSENAL 2, LEICESTER CITY 1

ARSENE Wenger revealed he whispered “we were a little lucky tonight” in the ear of under-fire Nigel Pearson after watching his side edge above Tottenham into fourth place.

The Arsenal boss praised Leicester as “one of the better sides in the bottom of the league” after watching a spirited second-half fight-back.

Laurent Koscielny had put Arsenal ahead on 27 minutes when he stole in and steered an Ozil corner low into the bottom corner, while on 41 mins Theo Walcott drilled in an instinctive half volley to make it 2-0.

But Andrej Kramaric struck a low shot from 12 yards on 61 minutes to set up a tense final third.

After the match, Wenger said Saturday’s derby had taken its toll on the team, adding: “You could see it in their legs, Tottenham too – as they lost in the final minutes as well. The first half, we were in control, the second half we lost our cohesion and technical superiority.”

Tottenham’s defeat to Liverpool at Anfield means Arsenal leapfrog their north London rivals into the Champions League places.

Wenger said: “I consider us to be in a top-four race. There are six teams going for that: Chelsea, City, Man Utd, Liverpool, Tottenham, Arsenal, Southampton.”

Alexis Sanchez looked off the pace and was substituted shortly after getting whacked on his knee by a strong challenge from Matthew Upson. Aaron Ramsey later limped off injured a few minutes after being substituted on.

“It looks like a hamstring,” said Wenger. “I wanted to be cautious with Ramsey, but we were lacking a bit of offensive power. It was not the best of decisions. Last year it was the thigh, this year it is a recurrence of hamstrings. Ramsey is not overplayed. Before I never really looked too closely at him, I just played him at every game. Now it is different.”

Wenger also said he was “surprised” if Leicester’s owners had wanted “to get rid of manager”, adding: “I think if they don’t panic they will be ok.”

And later Pearson said: “This football club [Arsenal] is a fantastic example of a club with a vision, because they are prepared to see out difficult times because they have belief in the man in charge.”

ARSENAL: Ospina, Mertesacker, Monreal, Koscielny, Bellerin, Coquelin, Cazorla, Sanchez (Giroud 68), Walcott (Ramsey 73 (Flamini 82)), Rosicky, Ozil.
Subs not used: Szczesny, Gabriel, Welbeck.
Attendance: 60,032.