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[Ratings & videos] Arsenal 1-1 Leicester: Ceballos stars but harsh Nketiah red cost us

By on July 8, 2020

dani ceballos arsenal

Two controversial decisions cost Arsenal two vital points as we drew 1-1 with Leicester City at the Emirates on Tuesday night.

It was a slow start from Arsenal but we grew into the game and opened the scoring in the 21st minute when Dani Ceballos released Bukayo Saka with a wonderful pass and the youngster crossed for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to tap home for 1-0.

Arsenal bombarded Leicester for the rest of the first half and Alexandre Lacazette should have scored twice but was denied by Kasper Schmeichel on one occasion and headed straight at the Leicester keeper when well placed minutes later.

Those misses proved costly as Leicester improved after the break and Arsenal were reduced to 10-men in the 75th minute when Eddie Nketiah was dismissed just minutes after coming off the bench following a late tackle on James Justin.

Nketiah was initially shown a yellow card but VAR intervened and after using the pitch-side monitor to have another look, the referee showed Eddie a straight red card. It was the first time this season a ref has used the monitor to overturn his original decision and it was harsh on Nketiah.

That changed the flow of the game and Leicester grabbed an equaliser in the 84th minute when Jamie Vardy slotted home. Replays showed it was a close call for him being offside while Ayoze Perez also looked to have gotten a slight touch which would definitely have made Vardy offside. However, VAR gave the goal and it was 1-1.

Neither side found a winner so Arsenal were denied two points which all but ends any slim hopes we had of snatching a Champions League qualification place as fifth-placed Man Utd will go eight points ahead if they beat Aston Villa on Thursday.

Here are my ratings:

Martinez  7.5/10 | Superb low save with his feet to deny Iheanacho early on and made a few other solid stops. Showed great handling and couldn’t do much for Vardy’s goal.

Mustafi  7/10 | Another solid performance from the German. Could perhaps have done better to cut out the cross for Vardy’s goal and his foot played the striker onside but overall a good performance.

Luiz  6.5/10 | Kept things simple and cleared his lines when needed in a no-nonsense manner. Made a couple of important blocks too.

Kolasinac  6.5/10 | Growing into his new role and didn’t really put a foot wrong.

Bellerin  7/10 | Had a good first half when he linked up well with Saka down the right. Put-in a couple of lovely crosses too – one which Lacazette should have scored from. Much improved display.

Ceballos  8/10 | Ran the show in the first half. Lovely ball helped create the opener and was involved in everything. Wasn’t afraid to do his bit defensively too. Level dropped a bit in the second half but still great display.We missed him when he was subbed.

Xhaka  6/10 | A quieter game from Xhaka as Ceballos overshadowed him. Solid in possession as always but just didn’t really stamp any authority on the game.

bukayo saka arsenal

Tierney  7/10 | Another impressive performance and put in some lovely low crosses that caused Leicester problems.

Saka  7/10 | Great cross to set-up Auba for the opener and was always a threat. Faded a bit in the second half before being subbed.

Lacazette  6/10 | Forced a great save from Schmeichel before missing a great headed chance to make it 2-0. Those misses proved costly but on another day he’d have scored a brace.

Aubameyang  7/10 | Tapped home the opening goal but it was great movement to get on the end of Saka’s cross. Worked hard down the left side.

Subs:

Nketiah   N/A | Harshly sent off just minutes after coming on. It was late but the ref initially gave a yellow and it wasn’t a ‘clear and obvious’ error.

Torreira   5/10 | Worked hard but feel Ceballos should have stayed on as we lost control when he went off.

Willock   5/10 | On for Saka but poor sub from Arteta. Should have gone with Pepe as our attacking threat ended when Willock came on allowing Leicester to push up and grab their goal.

Maitland-Niles   N/A | On too late.

Watch the highlights here: