Leicester City 0-2 Arsenal (Merino 81’, 87’)
KING POWER STADIUM — Who’d have thunk it. Not even Mikel Merino, really, but he danced to the tune of his own name at full-time all the same.
Arsenal’s No 23 was the unlikely hero of the hour, the unexpected second-half No 9 who rescued his side with a late double at Leicester to keep their Premier League title hopes alive.
He started this match on the bench, as a sidenote, not entirely their most unbelievable saviour but in reality one of their more attacking options should Mikel Arteta require it.
And boy did they need it. Ten minutes from a 0-0 draw that would have gifted Liverpool an opportunity to go nine points clear on Sunday, Merino’s two goals ensured the gap is just four, meaning Arsenal’s outside chance remains just that.
“[Merino] can smell danger. He’s got really good timing to arrive, and the capacity to execute,” Arteta said.
“You have to have a picture in your head of what can work, the variables, and then you have to feel it, see the game and what is happening.
“We’re going to have to share that [responsibility]. We’ll have to prepare for different scenarios.”
Merino’s timely input comes as the spotlight was shining fiercely on Arsenal’s attack in light of Kai Havertz’s season-ending injury.
This was Arsenal’s first Premier League match in almost four years where none of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus or Havertz started, and it was Leandro Trossard who occupied the false nine role as expected.
And in a first half of few chances, it was Declan Rice who will feel he should have done better when rising to meet Ethan Nwaneri’s cross but heading well wide.
He would have been disappointed, but nevertheless it was a reminder that all six feet and two inches of Rice can provide something the 5ft 8ins Trossard cannot.
Arsenal were on top, but as the first half progressed space was closing up, with Martin Odegaard – not for the first time – trying a looped ball over the top in a bid to tee up Trossard, who this time failed to connect with the ball properly.
The half ended, but only after Wilfred Ndidi headed just wide for Leicester, and it meant the pressure heightened on Arsenal – the Premier League’s fastest starters having led 13 times at half-time this season – given their weakened attack was already under the microscope.
Something had to change, given Trossard’s weak attempt after nine minutes – when he was offside anyway – was their only attempt on target all half.
But they were struggling to break through.
Another looped ball over the top showed Arsenal were in danger of becoming one-trick ponies, while a minute later Rice was once more the furthest forward when played through by Odegaard, but his square pass to Raheem Sterling – notice how his name wasn’t mentioned till now – was undercooked and an opportunity went begging.
The look on Rice’s face afterwards said it all. He was getting into the positions, persistently troubling Leicester, but the final touch was letting him down.
Arsenal were desperately in need of a spark, and after Nwaneri’s curled shot clipped the top of the bar, Odegaard gestured towards the corner where Arsenal’s away fans were standing.
With half an hour to go, this side needed their support, for after Everton’s assist in midweek the last thing they could afford was to let this chance go begging.
Odegaard was doing all he could. Orchestrating play, imploring Myles Lewis-Skelly to quickly get over a misplaced pass, rushing over to take a throw-in. He was leading by example, all while Sterling was looking, a major shadow of his Manchester City self, a player devoid of confidence, not willing to take the ball on and seemingly forgetting how to cross it, too.
No surprise, then, that Sterling was the first player off, replaced by Merino in the 69th minute, just at a time when it was getting frantic and you could sense the Arsenal nerves from the press box.
Trossard was moved out wide, Merino was at No 9, Gabriel was staying forward, and the reliance on Odegaard grew, all before Leicester nearly went ahead, only for Lewis-Skelly to make a vital interception at the back post to deny Bobby De Cordova-Reid a simple tap-in.
Off went Thomas Partey and Lewis-Skelly for Jorginho and Riccardo Calafiori, necessary given Partey in particular looked shattered, and moments later it was a shot to nothing from Nwaneri that struck the post.
Then came the breakthrough with 10 minutes to go, Rice intercepting in Leicester’s own area before Nwaneri’s cross found Merino, who headed it beyond the grasp of Mads Hermansen.
Some moment, especially given Merino has played predominantly as a central or defensive midfielder this season, and here he was tasked with a new role late into a match Arsenal desperately needed to win.
It got even better for Merino, too, with Arsenal’s No 23 turned No 9 latching onto Trossard’s cross to score his second.
Surely, then, this is the end of Sterling in the starting XI, with Arteta – who side-stepped a question about the winger afterwards – deserving credit for this in-game tactical change that ultimately bore fruit.
It was proving a puzzle Arsenal couldn’t solve, but Merino was the piece that saved them and ensured leaders Liverpool host Wolves on Sunday with just that little bit more pressure.
And going forward for Arsenal, with Odegaard behind him, the deserved man-of-the-match Nwaneri on one side and Trossard the other, could Merino now lead Arsenal’s temporary attack? We’ll find out against West Ham next week, and if Sterling still starts, having done so in four of the past five in Saka’s place, that is surely the biggest surprise.
