Mesut Özil orchestrates Arsenal at full speed to extinguish Leicester fire | Soccer



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For Unai Emery, the theme of the evening was the perfect 10. There are now 10 victories in all competitions for his energetic Arsenal, including seven in the Premier League, and the manager owed everything to the master. in jersey # 10.

Mesut Özil had one of those games in which everything takes place for him and it was a pleasure to watch. When he pulled out late after scoring a goal and playing a pivotal role in Arsenal's other two goals – put at home by his replacement, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – he received a moving ovation. For the first time in his career at Arsenal, Özil wore the captain's armband from the start.

Leicester dominated the first 30 minutes or so, and could feel aggrieved by the fact that Rob Holding was not sanctioned at the beginning of the match for the ball of the hand, which could have led to the dismissal of the defender d & # 39; Arsenal. 19659004] But in the end, they are dazzled by the offensive vigor of the Emery team, which Özil helps orchestrate. His goal that canceled the goal of Hectór Belleriín was magnificent, but it was just beginning. It was Ö Özil who allowed Bellerín to pbad for Aubameyang's first goal and he presented a magnificent mannequin before the second goal of the striker before placing the ball on a plate in front of the empty goal

Emery had made a pre-game observation. "We are starting the matches with perhaps less intensity than we wish," he said. "It's something we need to improve on."

It is fair to say that his words were not heard, as Arsenal could and should have scored two goals at least within 20 minutes of opening.

The biggest controversy came after 18 minutes and the reason why the referee, Chris Kavanagh, chose not to penalize Holding for a handball command in the vicinity of the athlete was totally mysterious . Leicester's bench burst into a mixture of anger and disbelief and, if Kavanagh had acted, he would have faced another decision. Photography: Matthew Impey / Rex Shutterstock

Moments earlier, Kelechi Iheanacho was expected to withdraw while Arsenal maintained its high and risky line of defense and the Leicester attacker threatened to abscond. Holding Hand could have added up to a second yellow card. The penalty call followed a tennis shot from the heads of Harry Maguire and Jamie Vardy following a free kick by James Maddison. When Hold jumped with Wilfred Ndidi, he had his hand up and there was a clear movement of the ball towards the ball. It was not the only occasion for Arsenal to be eliminated early. Arsenal's defensive line disintegrated on another Maddison free kick, when Alexandre Lacazette was sitting too deep and playing a blue shirt, and Maguire should have scored with his head. Instead, Bernd Leno jumped to his left to save. A little earlier, Iheanacho had seen a shot deviate from Holding and another shot by a Leno diver.

Leicester's breakthrough was thwarted by good fortune, but no one could say that they did not deserve it. Ben Chilwell's pace from the left-back was a feature of the night and he was ahead of Bellerín, which is not an easy task to reach the ball and the center of Ndidi. The bullet fired from Leno on Bellerín's outstretched foot.

However, Arsenal came back on top and the steamhead they built was such that they did not want the first half to end. Fortunately for them, they took the start tied, thanks to a silky finish typical of Özil. He injected the emergency half-way, exchanged pbades with Bellerín and shot a low shot from the left foot to return to the last post.

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Emery's team put a lot of effort into the last 10 minutes of the half. Kasper Schmeichel kept a Granit Xhaka free kick and a shot from Alex Iwobi, while Iwobi nearly lost the ball, he cleared the ball and Holding missed a corner header from Xhaka.

Training Claude Puel 3-4-1-2 asked a lot of questions to Arsenal, especially in the opening half-hour. He settled with Maddison in a central role in midfield offensive, ahead of Nampalys Mendy and Ndidi, and with Iheanacho and Vardy as forward-thinking. Player from Leicester. He bristled with quality. Leicester had breadth and form.

But one of the themes of Emery's mandate was the ability to react to a match, to make the necessary adjustments. How he did it here, and it is unlikely that he ever benefited from such an immediate dividend of a double substitution. He sent Aubameyang and Matteo Guendouzi for Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Stephan Lichtsteiner in the 61st minute, while Xhaka found himself facing the left back to welcome Guendouzi in the middle of the pitch. . Moments earlier, Ndidi had hit the crossbar with a Maddison corner header. It was the night of Arsenal.

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