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Leicester City 1-1 Arsenal: Home side holds strong for draw

Leicester

Arsenal were listless and wasteful, and Leicester were collected as the Premier League new boys held on strong for a 1-1 draw at King Power Stadium.

The Gunners scored after 20 minutes, but Leicester responded just three minutes later and Arsenal had nothing of quality left to offer.

The game begun in an open manner, with both sides testing the other with attacking flow and counter-attacks.

There looked to be an early injury change, unfortunately for Arsenal, with Laurent Koscielny and Jeffery Schlupp clattering heads in an aerial challenge, and the Gunners defender received the worst of the challenge.

With an open wound on his head and clearly dazed, Koscielny still was able to return with a head wrapping a few minutes later after receiving two staples in his head.

Leicester came closest early on when Riyad Mahrez skipped past Aaron Ramsey twice before shooting just wide left, having beaten Wojciech Szczesny.

On the other end, Arsenal proved lethal in the 20th minute. Some messy defending allowed Alexis Sanchez to put Yaya Sanogo through with a dink. Kasper Schmeichel came out to stone Sanogo but Sanchez was there to skillfully rip home the rebound.

[VIDEO: Premier League highlights, here]

Leicester wasted no time hitting back though, as Schlupp lifted in a wonderful cross from nearly in the corner flag, and it found the head of Leo Ulloa who thundered home for the equalizer just three minutes after falling behind.

It was Koscielny who Ulloa beat in the air for the goal, and following the goal, Wenger removed the French defender in favor of Callum Chambers - likely a change which should have taken place well prior.

The rest of the half went back and forth, and both sides had a few chances with positive counter-attacks, but nothing came of it despite a large amount of stoppage time thanks to Koscielny’s treatment.

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The best chance of the second half came five minutes in, when Sanchez picked out a free Santi Cazorla but the Spaniard dragged his shot wide despite the good opportunity.

It fell to Ulloa on the other end two minutes later after fooling the usually pinpoint Chambers, but with just Szczesny to beat, the ball ended up off the side netting as the Polish keeper got a touch.

Arsenal’s attack slowly became more and more toothless as the game dragged on, but Wenger waited ages to make any replacements. Cazorla, Mesut Ozil, and Sanogo had long since seen their usefulness dry up, but Lukas Podolski and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain remained seated on the bench.

Finally, with 14 minutes to go Ox and Podolski came on, but poetic justice saw Mesut Ozil go down painfully on the edge in front of the advertising boards, and with Arsenal just having used their substitutes, they were down to 10 men for a good four minutes while he received treatment.

Ulloa also was withdrawn, having put in a full shift and clearly looking exhausted and with an empty tank. Other tired legs remained on the pitch, and the game slowed to a crawl as a result.

Finally, something burst to life when Leicester got a one-man counter-attack with substitute Jamie Vardy skipping past a number of defenders on a high line near the mid line. He got support from Andy King, and Vardy got it back for the shot - denied by a diving Szczesny.

A fitting moment marked extra time, as Szczesny came out to collect a corner and got tangled with Liam Moore, and the pair were booked after a scuffle broke out.

With the point, Arsenal get up to five on the season and stay undefeated but fail to take the chance to jump Tottenham, Liverpool, and Manchester City. Leicester City get their best result of the short season and move to two points total.

LINEUPS:

Leicester City: Schmeichel, De Laet, Morgan, Moore, Konchesky, Mahrez (Albrighton 64'), King, Hammond, Schlupp (Vardy 77'), Nugent, Ulloa (Drinkwater 77').

Goals: Ulloa 23'

Arsenal: Szczesny, Debuchy, Mertesacker, Koscielny (Chambers 27'), Monreal, Flamini, Ramsey, Cazorla (Oxlade-Chamberlain 77'), Ozil, Alexis, Sanogo (Podolski 77').

Goals: Sanchez 20'

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