Vardy keeps Foxes pointing towards Europe’s top table
JUST when it felt like Arsenal’s front three may yet make a top four, Leicester’s two key men ensured what might be one of the most important moments of the Champions League chase.
This pulsating 1-1 draw really did come down to the numbers, not least the fact Eddie Nketiah’s red card reduced Mikel Arteta’s side to 10 men at a crucial stage.
Up to that moment, Kasper Schmeichel had been the only reason Leicester were still in the game, pulling out a series of brilliant stops. Jamie Vardy then kept them in the top four driving seat with a fine finish.
It may yet be the most significant moment of Leicester’s season. It could prove a costly moment in Arsenal’s.
They could genuinely start harbouring new hopes of the top four in the moments before Nketiah’s red card, because of Arteta’s new forward line.
This was the first time he chose to play all of Pierre-emerick Aubameyang, Alex Lacazette and the electric Bukayo Saka in attack, and it looked transformative.
They had been that good, the movement of the front three bringing that supreme opening goal from Aubameyang.
It will be hugely frustrating for Arteta, because of how good the system looked before the red card, how much promise it offered.
For that opening goal, Dani Ceballos picked out Saka, who just surged past Jonny Evans with the simplest bit of trickery. The winger might have taken it on himself to score, but instead played one of those gloriously inviting swerved balls for
Aubameyang to finish.
It doesn’t seem unfair to say that if David Luiz had been responsible for the fall that Evans was, he would have been pilloried. The Brazilian was instead so sure-footed, a three-man backline just the perfect defensive system for him.
The red changed that, but wasn’t the sole reason for the turnaround. Leicester had been pushing before that, enjoying more of the territory. It already looked like they’d rediscovered their verve. Vardy has certainly rediscovered his touch. After a spell of just three goals in 15 games, this was now two in two.
And it came from one glorious ball from Demerai Gray.
It ensures Leicester stay in the top four for this match week. Whether it’s enough for the rest of the season remains to be seen. Arsenal’s new front three looks like it may be enough for the Champions League in the future.
That will be no solace for Arteta and Nketiah right now.