Clattenburg under the spotlight as Leicester cry foul
CHAMPIONS Leicester collected their first point of the new campaign but were left feeling that referee Mark Clattenburg had not done their team any favours against a powder-puff Arsenal.
Clattenburg failed to send off Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin after he brought down Riyad Mahrez on the edge of the box when he had already been booked. And midfielder Danny Drinkwater felt he should have had a penalty when Laurent Koscielny made a last-ditch tackle, though replays showed the Arsenal defender had got the ball.
Substitute Ahmed Musa also had a loud appeal waved away when he went down in the box two minutes from the end.
The result left both sides still searching for their first win after defeats on the opening day.
And if that hurt Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, he would have been equally frustrated to see Jamie Vardy and Mahrez line up in blue yesterday.
Wenger looked likely to sign both players at one stage during the summer but they eventually agreed new Leicester contracts instead.
There seemed particular intent in Vardy’s strong run at Koscielny in the opening minute of this match which forced a corner and caused early panic in Arsenal’s defence.
The Gunners’ best form of defence under Wenger has always been attack and, with Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on either flank, they had the runners to hurt Leicester.
Their first chance fell to Santi Cazorla, playing as a No10, whose shot was deflected wide.
Arsenal were the only team to win at Leicester last season and the way they knocked the ball around as the game settled down indicated they fancied a repeat. True to type, Leicester were happy to sit back and watch, then come in to make the important interception when Arsenal tried to penetrate.
Wenger would have been marginally the happier in the opening 20 minutes with his side carving out the first genuine chance, Sanchez playing in Hector Bellerin on the overlap and his cross hacked away at full stretch by Wes Morgan as Arsenal players queued in the middle to convert. Drinkwater is highly regarded by England manager Sam Allardyce and likely to make his first squad when it is announced next weekend, but his duties last night were definitely to shield and protect. Leicester hardly got on the ball and Morgan needed to make another headed clearance to stop Walcott’s cross from leading to a goal.
And as the first half reached its end, Arsenal boasted 75 per cent possession but nothing to show for it on the scoreboard and only one shot on target, from Cazorla saved by Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.
They nearly paid for it when the match finally exploded into life after 41 minutes – and naturally it was the Mahrez-Vardy combination which nearly unlocked Arsenal.
The Algerian made a great run down the right and played a sliderule pass for his mate to run in behind. Cech came out to tackle Vardy and, as the loose ball fell to Drinkwater, he went over to a great penalty appeal roar from the home fans as a combination of Cech and Koscielny came in to clear. Clattenburg was having none of it.
Vardy then forced Cech into a risky dribble inside his penalty area as Leicester tried to catch Arsenal cold at the start of the second half.
Mendy, signed from Nice, did a very passable impression of the man he replaced, N’Golo Kante, as he harried the Arsenal midfield. But his evening was cut short after 53 minutes when he hobbled off in clear discomfort after his studs seemed to get caught in the ground as he stretched to make an interception.
Clattenburg did not endear himself to Leicester fans again when the already booked Coquelin clattered into Mahrez on the edge of the penalty area but escaped without a second yellow.
Mahrez flashed the freekick over the bar before Arsenal retaliated with a shot from distance by Bellerin, which was gathered at the second attempt by Schmeichel.
Musa also went over late on but Clattenburg waved that one away too, as Arsenal and Leicester waved goodbye to any chance of three points.