{"id":9460,"date":"2021-03-01T07:33:32","date_gmt":"2021-03-01T07:33:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/?p=9460"},"modified":"2021-03-01T07:37:25","modified_gmt":"2021-03-01T07:37:25","slug":"pepe-leads-arsenals-to-comeback-as-the-gunners-outrun-the-foxes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/?p=9460","title":{"rendered":"Pepe leads Arsenal to a comeback as the Gunners outrun the foxes."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>On a crisp, sunny day at the King Power Stadium it was Arsenal\u2019s Europa League travellers who looked to have been touched by the breath of spring. Behind after six minutes, Arsenal dominated possession and were good value for a 3-1 win against a depleted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/football\/leicestercity\">Leicester City<\/a> team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leicester will point to absences here, most notably their best midfielder and best centre half, James Maddison and Wesley Fofana, plus an injury to Harvey Barnes\u2019s knee after half-time that will require an operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/football\/arsenal\">Arsenal<\/a> this felt like a significant turn, reward for one of their best away performances of the season. \u201cThe team is improving, it\u2019s taking a direction I like,\u201d Mikel Arteta said afterwards. \u201cAttitude-wise, the way we are playing within our model is much closer to what we want.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-wordpress wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-good-morning-kenya\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"yyKw8ZoAzj\"><a href=\"http:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/?p=9452\">Harambee stars winger Ayub Timbe signs for Vissel Kobe of Japan.<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Harambee stars winger Ayub Timbe signs for Vissel Kobe of Japan.&#8221; &#8212; Good Morning Kenya\" src=\"http:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/?p=9452&#038;embed=true#?secret=GifWXUjvBm#?secret=yyKw8ZoAzj\" data-secret=\"yyKw8ZoAzj\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Much of the buildup to this game had focused on status. Is there such a thing as \u201cthe big six\u201d, and if so how do we measure it? Finance? Expectation? Actual league positions?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At kick-off Leicester were 15 points and eight places clear of their visitors. By full time there was a clear sense of Arsenal\u2019s greater squad depth. The quality of the replacements, most notably Nicolas P\u00e9p\u00e9, was simply too much for Leicester\u2019s own weakened team. \u201cWe were down to the bare bones,\u201d Rodgers lamented at full-time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u2705 Warm-ups underway<br>\u2705 Breakdown Live underway<br><br>Join <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/adrianjclarke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@AdrianJClarke<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NickBrightDJ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@NickBrightDJ<\/a> as we build up to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/LEIARS?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#LEIARS<\/a> \ud83d\udcfa<\/p>&mdash; Arsenal (@Arsenal) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Arsenal\/status\/1365989356327026691?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 28, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Arteta made six changes, including bringing in Willian, P\u00e9p\u00e9 and Alexandre Lacazette. Bukayo Saka was given a much-needed rest. P\u00e9p\u00e9 seized his chance brilliantly, with a performance of such conviction that by the 55th minute he had been involved in two Arsenal penalty awards, won a free-kick that led to their opening goal and forced the substitution of Leicester\u2019s 19-year-old left-back Luke Thomas, who struggled with P\u00e9p\u00e9\u2019s movement and dribbling ability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"680\" height=\"680\" src=\"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/LINEUP.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9462\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/LINEUP.jpg 680w, https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/LINEUP-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/LINEUP-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Leicester switched to a 4-4-2, with Kelechi Iheanacho playing close to Jamie Vardy, a nudge that failed to draw any obvious response. Vardy is 34, has played constantly for the past six years and seemed bothered by his groin. He was a ghost for most of the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arsenal started well enough, right up until the moment Leicester had their first attack of the game and scored a brilliant goal. It came from the right flank. Iheanacho held the ball. Youri Tielemans made a clever run outside, glided away from Kieran Tierney\u2019s lunge, and just kept on going, reaching the edge of the area unimpeded by David Luiz and Pablo Mar\u00ed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"577\" src=\"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/LEI-1-1024x577.jpg\" alt=\"Youri Tielemans (left) is mobbed after opening the scoring.\" class=\"wp-image-9461\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/LEI-1-1024x577.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/LEI-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/LEI-1-768x433.jpg 768w, https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/LEI-1-1536x865.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/LEI-1-2048x1154.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/LEI-1-390x220.jpg 390w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Youri Tielemans<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The shot on the run was low hard past Bernd Leno\u2019s right hand. There is something old-fashioned about a central midfielder who can surge from deep to score regularly. It helps when the opposition offer you the defensive equivalent of a welcome basket and a round of polite applause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arsenal were commendably un-deflated, helped (presumably) by Arteta\u2019s constant barking and yelping from the touchline. This is a manager who loves to \u201ccall\u201d every play, springing up every few moments like the spiffily-dressed dad-coach of the all-conquering local U-11s. His players responded and six minutes later seemed ready to equalise as P\u00e9p\u00e9 was tripped swerving into the box. The VAR overruled the penalty decision. Wilfred Ndidi had made contact just outside the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arsenal found inroads on the left. Willian switched flanks for a while, and began to influence the game. \u201cHe was really good,\u201d Arteta said. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen that in training, he\u2019s revealing himself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"680\" height=\"680\" src=\"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/LINEUP2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9463\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/LINEUP2.jpg 680w, https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/LINEUP2-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/LINEUP2-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Seven minutes before half-time P\u00e9p\u00e9 was fouled for the fourth time, drawing a booking for Thomas. Willian whipped in a flat free-kick and David Luiz scored with a wonderful header, running across the front of a static Leicester defence and glancing the ball into the corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Emile Smith Rowe left the field with a hip injury. But Arsenal still had time to take the lead from another penalty kick, this one awarded by the VAR. Ndidi blocked a P\u00e9p\u00e9 shot with his hands raised. Lacazette hammered the ball into the corner. Arsenal deserved nothing less, having driven the game single-handedly since Leicester\u2019s goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Brendan Rodgers reacted at half time, taking off Thomas and bringing on Mark Albrighton. But Arsenal went 3-1 up on 52 minutes with a goal made and scored by P\u00e9p\u00e9 himself. This time he dribbled inside, saw the ball trickle into the six-yard box as Willian evaded a joint-challenge from Kasper Schmeichel and Timothy Castagne, and was there to tap it in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/PEPE-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9464\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/PEPE-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/PEPE-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/PEPE-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/PEPE-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/PEPE-390x220.jpg 390w, https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/PEPE.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Leicester kept running, but never really looked like hauling it back. There has been something hugely impressive about their ability to function through the absence of key players. Here they looked tired and low on quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For Arsenal, victory was a timely reminder of Arteta\u2019s own playing resources ahead of a tough run of games that will decide the eventual tone of this strange in-out season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On a crisp, sunny day at the King Power Stadium it was Arsenal\u2019s Europa League travellers who looked to have been touched by the breath of spring. Behind after six minutes, Arsenal dominated possession and were good value for a 3-1 win against a depleted Leicester City team. Leicester will point to absences here, most &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9464,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9460"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9468,"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9460\/revisions\/9468"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodmorningkenya.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}