Welbeck’s Winner for Gunners Narrows Leicester Lead to Two Points

Danny Welbeck threw the English Premier League title race wide open when he scored a dramatic winner with only seconds left as Arsenal beat leaders Leicester City 2-1 yesterday.

The Foxes looked set to hold out for a vital draw as a thrilling game went into injury time, despite being reduced to 10 men after Danny Simpson was sent off for a second yellow card early in the second half.

This was until Welbeck, playing his first competitive game since April last year, glanced Mesut Ozil’s free-

Team Leicester Arsenal Tottenham Man City Man Utd S’thampton West Ham Liverpool Watford Stoke Everton Chelsea Palace WBA B’mouth Swansea Norwich Newcastle Sunderland Aston Villa

P WD 26 15 8 26 15 6 26 14 10 26 14 6 26 11 8 26 11 7 26 10 10 26 10 8 26 10 6 26 10 6 26 8 11 26 8 9 26 9 5 26 8 8 26 7 7 26 69 26 6 6 26 6 6 26 6 5 26 3 7 kick past the magnificent Kasper Schmeichel to spark wild celebrations at Emirates Stadium as Leicester lost in the league for just the third time this season.

Jamie Vardy gave the Foxes the lead with a hotly-disputed penalty on the stroke of halftime after he tumbled over Nacho Monreal’s outstretched leg.

Substitute Theo Walcott then set up a frantic final 20 minutes with a side-foot finish from Olivier Giroud’s superb knockdown.

Leicester still leads the table - but Arsenal’s win

L 3 5 3 6 7 8 6 8 10 10 7 9 12 10 12 11 14 14 15 16

GF GA GD 48 29 19 41 23 18 47 20 27 47 26 21 33 24 9 34 24 10 40 31 9 38 36 2 29 28 1 27 32 -5 46 35 11 38 36 2 27 32 -5 24 32 -8 30 44 -14 24 34 -10 30 50 -20 27 49 -22 32 50 -18 20 46 -26

Pts 53 51 51 48 41 40 40 38 36 36 35 33 32 32 28 27 24 24 23 16 leaves them only two points clear.

In those closing seconds, with the Emirates awash with tension and anxiety, it looked like Leicester would secure a point that would feel like a victory to manager Claudio Ranieri and his players.

It would have been a draw achieved with a numerical disadvantage at the home of a title rival - and would have given them four precious points from visits to Manchester City and Arsenal.

Instead, Welbeck’s intervention left Ranieri and his men desolate after an outstanding backs-to-the-wall performance, exemplified by the brilliance of keeper Schmeichel as he kept Arsenal at bay, with one late save from Giroud world-class especially notable.