Leicester 0-1 Arsenal: Player ratings as Gunners coast to victory
Arsenal took another step towards the Premier League title with a 1-0 over a Leicester side unable to cause them any problems on Saturday.
Starting from the off with Leandro Trossard in place of Eddie Nketiah, the visitors immediately took control of the game with Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard both going close in the opening ten minutes.
For all of their pushing and probing though, a quarter of the match went by without Arsenal able to create a clear-cut chance, with the Leicester defence standing strong.
Just before the half-hour mark, Trossard thought he broke their resolve when he fired in from the edge of the box in the second phase of a corner, but VAR spotted a foul in the build-up and so the goal was chalked off.
That briefly sparked the game into life with a goal from Kelechi Iheanacho then being ruled out at the other end before Arsenal had a penalty claim waved away, but there were no other major talking points in the first half after that.
It didn't take long for there to be one in the second though with Gabriel Martinelli giving Arsenal the lead just a minute after the break, sliding the ball into the far corner after being played in by Trossard.
Less than ten minutes later, the Brazilian thought he'd gotten an assist when he set up a tap-in for Saka, but he was offside when he received the ball, causing the goal to be ruled out.
Arsenal were in their stride now and pushed hard to kill off the game with a second goal, barely allowing the ball out of the Leicester half and testing goalkeeper Danny Ward.
They lacked the finishing touch though and were almost punished for it when Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall fired just wide from distance with 20 minutes to go. That effort proved to be the start of a stronger spell for Leicester, who started to enjoy more possession as the game neared its end.
The hosts weren't able to do anything with the ball though, failing to take another shot before the end of the match, allowing Arsenal to coast to victory.
Leicester player ratings (4-3-3)
GK: Danny Ward - 6/10 - Made a few good saves and couldn't do much about the Arsenal goal.
RB: Timothy Castagne - 5/10 - Offered nothing in the way of an attacking threat and looked shaky at the back at times.
CB: Harry Souttar - 4/10 - Was beaten far too easily for the Arsenal goal and was arguably lucky not to give away a penalty.
CB: Wout Faes - 6/10 - Dominated in the air and was generally solid at the back throughout.
LB: Victor Kristiansen - 5/10 - Wasn't able to do anything going forward but was okay at the back, holding his own against Saka.
CM: Dennis Praet - 5/10 - Didn't do much of note - bad or good - at either end of the pitch.
DM: Wilfred Ndidi- 6/10 - Protected his defence well but could've been better in possession.
CM: Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall - 7/10 - Competed well in midfield, winning the ball a number of times, and almost scored with a great strike.
RW: Tete - 3/10 - Barely got a sniff against Zinchenko, touching the ball just 20 times in over an hour and failing to stop the Ukrainian from causing problems going forward.
ST: Kelechi Iheanacho - 4/10 - Held up the ball well at times but struggled to cause problems for the Arsenal backline and was caught offside multiple times when trying to get in behind.
LW: Harvey Barnes - 6/10 - One of the few Leicester players to pose a threat throughout with his dribbles and neat touches creating a few openings.
Substitutes
Jamie Vardy (62' for Iheanacho) - 5/10
Youri Tielemans (63' for Tete) - N/A
Boubakary Soumare (77' for Ndidi) - N/A
Patson Daka (77' for Dennis Praet) - N/A
Ricardo Pereira (85' for Castagne) - N/A
Manager
Brendan Rodgers - 4/10 - He wasn't expected to get his side anything but questions have to be asked when a manager can't figure out how to get a single shot on target.
Arsenal player ratings (4-3-3)
GK: Aaron Ramsdale - 6/10 - Didn't have to make a single save, but gets some credit for not falling asleep.
RB: Ben White - 6/10 - Did a typically solid job at both ends of the pitch.
CB: William Saliba - 6/10 - Didn't look quite as solid as Gabriel but still put in a good showing.
CB: Gabriel - 7/10 - Kept the Leicester strikers quiet throughout, dominating his opponents, and mopped up well.
LB: Oleksandr Zinchenko - 7/10 - As always tends to be the case, was one of the best players on the pitch in possession, playing some lovely passes and barely putting a foot wrong.
CM: Martin Odegaard - 6/10 - Created a few chances but lacked a final product at times.
CM: Jorginho - 6/10 - Doesn't protect his backline anywhere near as well as Thomas Partey but did well on the ball, making some good passes.
CM: Granit Xhaka - 6/10 - Won the ball well in midfield but wasn't able to offer too much with it at his feet.
RW: Bukayo Saka - 6/10 - As per usual, was a big threat, but was a bit sloppy in the final third at times.
ST: Leandro Trossard - 8/10 - Being given the nod ahead of Nketiah, Trossard justified his inclusion and then some, creating one goal, a number of chances and having an excellent goal harshly ruled out.
LW: Gabriel Martinelli - 7/10 - Took his goal well and caused Leicester a lot of problems, almost getting an assist.
Substitutes
Eddie Nketiah (70' for Trossard) - 5/10
Thomas Partey (84' for Odegaard) - N/A
Takehiro Tomiyasu (90+3' for Zinchenko) - N/A
Manager
Mikel Arteta - 7/10 - His big call was playing Trossard up front and it proved to be a good one, leading to the opening goal. After that, he made the right calls to see out the win.