I will admit that I was worried after the Leicester goal. We'd done little until that point, and the Foxes could have gone up by more than the one. I don't think Holding should have been called for handball; the forward collided with him and moved his arm onto the ball. (That's my story anyway.) But we did pick up a couple of yellow cards. Leicester's defense looked pretty well organized and we never looked like scoring. But the goal woke us up, I guess, because all of a sudden we were all over them and the equalizer came just before the half, a lovely assured finish from the captain Ozil, his having orchestrated the move.
It was mostly Arsenal all second half, though there was that header off a corner that crashed off our crossbar. The arrival of Aubameyang and Guendouzi (for the less than effective Mkhitaryan and for Lichtsteiner, who I thought did well) kicked us up into another gear, and Leicester was fortunate not to have shipped more than the two goals in the half by the whistle. Both were sweetly crafted, primarily by Ozil, and finished by Auba.
Everyone played his part. Leno made some important, difficult saves early on. Holding and Mustafi handled the big, fast forwards well enough. Bellerin and Lichtsteiner were sent bombing up the sidelines to provide width and were out of position when we lost the ball. But I was very impressed with the Barca style pressing that often won the ball right back. Xhaka didn't have his best game, though he had a surprisingly good shift filling in at left back. Torreira was fantastic, filling the holes and pinching the ball. He and Guendouzi are an awesome pairing, full of energy and inventiveness.
Ozil was the main man today. He really bossed things. He got space because he made space. He does the simple things so well, and every once in a while, he does the extraordinary things even better. The defense-splitting pass to Hector that set up the second goal was the best moment of many good ones.
But Lacazette and Iwobi were excellent as well. (Mikhi wasn't at their level today.) I love Laca's work rate. He chases everything, and keeps two CBs busy. Iwobi gets better and better. He tracks back too. (Laca and Alex had to cover for Mikhi and Mesut in this regard.) Ramsey came in late for Ozil and looked dangerous.
We didn't climb in the table but Chelsea's draw with Man U puts them ahead of us only on GD. Emery's post-match comments showed that he still considers Arsenal a work in progress. He's right. We may be exposed against Man U or Spuds next month. but it is beginning to look as though he has a team who can mow down inferior opposition when they get a head of steam. I believe we've scored about three quarters of our goals in the second half. Whether it's conditioning or Emery's tactical sense, it augurs well.
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