Leicester City were beaten 2-0 by Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon as substitute Mikel Merino scored a brace late on.
It was a narrowly contested game, as the scoreline suggests, but while Leicester were unable to find a moment of quality, Ethan Nwaneri’s sumptuous cross was headed home by Merino late on and then the Spaniard found his second minutes from time.
Merino’s quickfire double would have left Ruud van Nistelrooy with a bitter taste in his mouth as his side were strong throughout, performing well defensively and looking threatening on the break.
This was despite Leicester fans protesting against Jon Rudkin in the 14th minute, directing their frustrations towards the man mainly responsible for their downfall.
However, whilst the Foxes showed some promising moments, it’s ultimately 10 defeats in 12 league games for Van Nistelrooy, and that isn’t good enough.
Here’s how the players rated.Leicester City player ratings vs Arsenal
Mads Hermansen – 6
It was a surprisingly quiet afternoon for Hermansen until the dying embers, when he fished two Merino goals out of his net.
James Justin – 6
Justin is usually criticised defensively but he dealt with Raheem Sterling well in the first half. Sadly, he was substituted for Woyo Coulibaly on the stroke of half-time with a suspected injury.
Wout Faes – 5.5
Faes is often targeted as a weak link, as demonstrated during the 4-0 loss to Everton, and Arsenal didn’t test him enough until they scored the first goal. Merino peeled off the Belgian to glance the ball past Hermansen.
Caleb Okoli – 6.5
He’s beginning to cement his place in the starting lineup alongside Faes, and the Italian showed his power and athleticism in defence, mostly dealing with Arsenal’s attack well.
Victor Kristiansen – 3
A tough afternoon for Kristiansen. The Dane isn’t known for his pace and he was often run ragged by Arsenal’s 17-year-old superstar Ethan Nwaneri. He simply couldn’t live with him.
Wilfred Ndidi – 8
A real difference-maker for Leicester in the middle of the park. He was brilliant on his return against Manchester United and he was near flawless on Saturday afternoon. The Nigerian controlled possession wonderfully and made a couple of vital interventions while coming close to scoring twice in the first half.
Boubakary Soumare – 7
Soumare was excellent in midfield alongside Ndidi. He covered lots of ground, kept it simple on the ball and made some brilliant tackles.
Bobby De Cordova Reid – 5.5
He put in some solid work defensively, often tracking back to help his full-back, though he was ineffective going forward. That being said, he was denied a certain goal by Myles Lewis-Skelly’s vital interception.
Bilal El Khannouss – 6.5
El Khannouss is developing into a magic player but in this clash, he perhaps didn’t impact the game as much as he would have liked.
Jordan Ayew – 5.5
Ayew was a workhorse down the left flank and produced a moment of quality deep into the second half but Lewis-Skelly brilliantly intercepted his cross to deny De Cordova Reid a tap-in. However, he was also ill-disciplined, often giving away fouls.
Jamie Vardy – 7
Vardy played out a fascinating battle against Gabriel and William Saliba. When the ball was fired into him, he held up brilliantly and laid the ball off to his teammates. A solid performance from Leicester’s talisman.
Substitutes
Woyo Coulibaly – 8
Leicester fans wanted Coulibaly to start against Arsenal, and although he didn’t, he was introduced on the stroke of half-time for Justin who was injured. The Frenchman was incredible defensively against Sterling, producing a colossus performance and surely earning a permanent place in the side.
Stephy Mavididi – 6.5
The former Arsenal man was a threat when he came onto the pitch as he committed the defenders with his pace but couldn’t produce a telling final ball.
Leave a Reply