Leicester City’s goalkeeper, Mads Hermansen, certainly did not deserve to lose this match. However, it was a game that Arsenal rightfully earned the victory in.
“Ultimately, we were fortunate,” Leandro Trossard remarked on the club’s website following the match. There is some merit to that statement. As Arsenal sought to breach the formidable Hermansen, Trossard’s side-foot volley was unfortunately redirected into the goal by Leicester’s Wilfred Ndidi. The victory-clinching goal from Kai Havertz came after James Justin inadvertently struck the ball against the Germany international’s foot during his attempt to clear it.
Yet, Arsenal’s stroke of luck in the closing moments doesn’t fully encapsulate the match’s narrative. Leicester also enjoyed a bit of fortune while battling back from a 2-0 deficit to level the score. First, Justin’s header took a deflection off Havertz, arcing over David Raya into the net. Following that, Justin executed a stunning volley, leaving Raya with no chance—if the full-back were to have 100 more chances to hit that floating ball, he might never replicate that perfect contact.
Both teams experienced moments of good fortune in front of goal, but Arsenal created a significantly greater number of opportunities, thanks in large part to the outstanding performance of Hermansen, who despite conceding four goals, had the match of his life.
💬 “I believe this reflects how well the team works together; everyone wants to support one another. We have a fantastic team, and everyone is content.”
Trossard commends the team’s work ethic after today’s late win 👇
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) September 28, 2024
The statistics are impressive. Opta reports that Arsenal registered 36 shots during this match—equaling their highest number in a Premier League game since the 2003-04 season. They managed 16 shots on target, also matching their highest record since the “Invincibles” season. Notably, Hermansen made 13 saves—the most by a goalkeeper in a Premier League game since David de Gea’s feat in the same venue in December 2017. This was indeed a relentless onslaught.
Arsenal concluded the match with an expected goals (xG) metric of 4.12, in contrast to Leicester’s 0.27. They dominated possession with 75% and earned 17 corners. The most remarkable aspect of this match is that Arsenal still required a dramatic late winner.
The beginning of Arsenal’s season has been demanding. Their initial five matches included challenging fixtures against Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur, and Manchester City. This encounter was always poised to be a different challenge: the responsibility lay with them to take control against Leicester and dismantle a compact defense. Additionally, they had to face this task without their captain and key playmaker, Martin Odegaard.
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Martinelli ended a goalless drought against Leicester (Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
“We have to adapt to that,” Mikel Arteta said before the game about coping without the Norwegian midfielder. “The influence Martin had in our attacking phase is enormous, and we cannot question that. When you look at every metric, the way we plan the games, the types of things we have to try to get him in the spaces where he can be very dangerous for the opponent, it’s key — it’s always in relation to him.
“We don’t have him, so we have to adapt. We have to adapt our way of playing and find other ways to do it that are very efficient. It will be different — it won’t be the same — it will be different but hopefully very efficient as well.”
In Odegaard’s absence, Arsenal adapted. They capitalised on moments of transition to shift gear into attack when there was more space available. Their opening goal was one such example: there were just 13.5 seconds between Riccardo Calafiori regaining possession on the halfway line and Gabriel Martinelli sweeping home his finish.
Havertz and Trossard produced a modern spin on the classic little-and-large strike partnership, and Arsenal placed a huge emphasis on rotations and positional play. When they needed a spark to help their final push, 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri produced a cameo of such dazzling brilliance it suggested he may be the squad’s most natural replacement for Odegaard.
Trossard celebrates his late goal (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Arteta will be delighted with how his team met the challenge. “I am really pleased with the performance,” he said after the game. “The way we played, the chances we created, how we dominated the game and after 2-0, the result should have been much bigger.
“But this is the Premier League, the quality of the opponent, the quality of Leicester, they scored two goals and I’m even happier how we dealt with that situation afterwards. It was emotionally superb, in control, very clear in what we have to do, how consistent we have to be to attack the spaces and continue to do a lot of the things we were already doing. We fully deserved to win the game.”
Much has been made of Arsenal’s tactics last week at the Etihad but in this game, they showed a different face. It will serve them well this season. They will face more matches like this than the rearguard action in Manchester. And this time, it was Arsenal who were the beneficiaries of a stoppage-time goal.
Even without Odegaard, Arsenal produced one of their most devastating attacking performances. For it to end in a draw would have been a travesty.
(Top photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
