Arsenal 4-3 Leicester: Alexis Sanchez is unimpressed, Alexandre Lacazette wastes no time and Filbert Fox plays mind games... Seven things you missed from Premier League kick-off
- Arsenal beat Leicester 4-3 in the opening game of the Premier League season
- Alexandre Lacazette's first league goal was with just his second touch
- Leicester's Matty James ended his long wait for a return to top flight action
- Here are a selection of other things you may have missed from the Emirates
- Man City and United to hit rivals with a one-two - Premier League betting guide
Olivier Giroud came off the bench to head home a late winner and seal three points for Arsenal in a topsy-turvy Premier League opener against Leicester.
The Gunners had won just one of their last seven opening-day fixtures but looked set fair Alexandre Lacazette got the opener. Shinji Okazaki equalised barely two minutes later before Jamie Vardy put the Foxes ahead just before the half hour.
Danny Welbeck pulled Arsenal level on the stroke of half-time but Vardy struck again 10 minutes into the second period. As the game ticked into the final 10 minutes Aaron Ramsey and then Giroud ensured it would be Arsenal's day.
If you were too busy to keep an eagle-eye on proceedings at the Emirates, fear not. Sportsmail was on hand to tell you about somethings you may have missed.
Arsenal goalscorer Olivier Giroud is surrounded by his team-mates after scoring a winner
Filbert the Fox was keen to impress on opening day
Mascots are weird. Their function is hard to describe, the human inside is certainly a 'character' and they do inexplicable things with regularity.
Maybe he thought he was playing mind games but Leicester's furry familiar, Filbert Fox, tried to make his mark early in the season.
As Arsenal stepped off the team bus at the Emirates they were greeted by the sight of Filbert waiting and ready to greet them with his a soft handshake. At least you assume it was soft.
Filbert Fox was on-hand to greet the Arsenal players as they stepped off the bus
Lacazette makes an impact
There is few things worse for a striker than the wait to score their first goal for the new club.
Lacazette wasted no time in removing that monkey from his back and throwing it against the wall in a way that might put both the WWF, and for that matter the WWE, on high alert.
The Frenchman's goal came with just his first shot and just his second touch in the Premier League, his only other involvement was kick-off.
Lacazette's goal after 1 minute, 34 seconds is now the quickest opening goal to a Premier League season, beating Fernando Asprilla's goal for Newcastle against Sheffield Wednesday (1997-98) by seven seconds. Kevin Campbell's strike for Arsenal vs Manchester City (1994-95) is now third, coming after two minutes and one second.
Alexandre Lacazette wasted little time in making an impact for Arsenal in the Premier League
Matty's is back, did you miss him?
Matty James last played Leicester in the Premier League 825 days ago. The midfielder went off with a cruciate ligament injury against Southampton on May 9, 2015.
Since James last played for the Foxes in the top flight the Prime Minister has changed, Britain voted to leave the European Union and, erm, Leicester won the title.
Matty James last played Leicester in the Premier League 825 days ago, a lot has changed since
Sanchez unimpressed in the stands
Alexis Sanchez was unavailable for his side's first game of the new season with an abdominal strain. Despite persistent talk of an exit all the indications are that Arsene Wenger will dig his heels in and keep his star man through the final year of his contract.
If Sanchez was looking for reasons to be optimistic about staying watching his team-mates go 2-1 down at home in their opener was not going to be one of them. Captured by the Sky cameras in the stands at the Emirates, Sanchez looked far from impressed.
He might be a happier man now.
Injured star Alexis Sanchez looked unimpressed as he watched Arsenal from stands
Sanchez watched the action from the stands alongside his partner Mayte Rodriguez
Impatient trolls
It took just 45 minutes, and Arsenal were not even losing, but Twitter was already losing its collective marbles: 'Wenger Out' was in the top 10 UK trends at half-time.
The call for the axe ramped up as the Gunners fell behind again in the second half and was in the top five at full-time.
If you thought the pressure might have eased on Wenger over the summer, think again.
Perhaps unsurprisingly the rest of the list is dominated by the return of the Premier League.
Even Mike Dean, everyone's favourite showman referee, was being tweeted about.
Leicester's hideous run against the Gunners goes on
The run was continuing, over, back on and then over again before Ramsey and Giroud's goals ensured that the Foxes are still yet to beat Arsenal in 22 games and have lost their last 11 games on their trips to north London.
Leicester have lost on their last 11 trips to Arsenal and have not beaten them in 21 games
Ozil hands the advantage to Arsenal
In the build up to the Ramsey's equaliser Mesut Ozil got away with a pretty blatant handball that had VAR been in use definitely would have been spotted.
Instead we have a glorious controversial talking point. This kind of thing is going to be missed when its gone.
Mesut Ozil got away with a pretty blatant handball in the build-up to Aaron Ramsey's equaliser
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