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Inspired substitutions and a large slice of luck helped Arsenal come from behind to win a seven-goal opening day thriller at the Emirates

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Fri 11 Aug 2017 16.53 EDTFirst published on Fri 11 Aug 2017 13.15 EDT
Arsène Wenger happy following Arsenal's win over Leicester – video

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Read Amy Lawrence's match report ...

Amy was in the Arsenal press box typing her fingers to the bone to bring you this cracking on-the-whistle report, which can’t have been too easy considering all that went on. Tune in later for her rewrite, which will include quotes from some of the main characters involved in a sensational game.

That match was a bit special ...

The Premier League gets off to a flier with a seven-goal thriller and Leicester will go home wondering how they lost. With Arsenal staring down the barrel of defeat after falling 3-2 behind to Jamie Vardy’s second of the night, substitutes Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud scored two in as many minutes to win the three points for Arsenal.

Ramsey’s was the crucial goal and it should not have stood - Mesut Ozil handled in the build-up before providing the assist. Arsenal rode their luck and have every right to be pleased with the win, but the woefulness of much of their defending, from an admittedly make-and-do patchwork defence, will give Arsene Wenger plenty to think about. Going forward, however, his team looked sublime at times.

Leicester have every reason to be proud of a fine performance too, but Craig Shakespeare also has work to do with his back four. Spare a thought, too, for Kelechi Iheanacho, whose introduction in the 82nd minute happened to coincide with the Leicester collapse.

Petr Cech on conceding from corners

“These are the type of goals you will not be happy with but we showed great character,” says Arsenal’s goalkeeper.

Giroud on his super-sub status ...

“That’s a nice start, but obviously I prefer to be on the pitch,” he says. “Tonight we needed this win and everyone knows the first game is important for the confidence.”

Olivier Giroud speaks ...

“Obviously I knew I was going to get a chance in coming on again,” he says on Sky Sports. “We kept the faith and carried on pushing ... pushing hard. We were courageous to the end and thank god we won this game.”

A dejected Harry Maguire and Wes Morgan. Photograph: Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images
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Full time at the Emirates: Arsenal 4-3 Leicester City

Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeeeep! It’s all over and Arsenal have won. On a night the Premier League broke from the traps like a greyhound whose tail is on fire, some inspired substitutions and a huge slice of luck rescued Arsenal from yet another opening day defeat. That was a fantastic game of football.

90+3 min: Leicester hurl the kitchen sink at Arsenal, who should not be too discouraged by defeat if they are beaten. They’re defence at set pieces has been as ropey as Arsenal’s, but they’ve played very well otherwise.

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90+1 min: Giroud and Lacazette combine well to tee up Theo Walcott, who blazes over. Offside! Going back to that Ramsey goal - he was teed up by Mesut Ozil, who clearly handled the ball in the build-up. His pass to Ramsey was controlled expertly by the Welshman, who fired home from close range. It was a fine goal, but it shouldn’t have counted.

89 min: This is bonkers! Kasper Schmeichel is marooned upfield as Leciester go in search of an equaliser, but Arsenal’s attempts to score into an empty goal come to naught. We’ll have five minutes of added time.

87 min: The corner from which Arsenal scored that goal came about from a corner they got when Kasper Schmeichel made an absolutely fantastic save to tip an ALexandre Lacazette surface-to-air screamer from close range over the bar. Your humble reporter is struggling to keep up here, there’s so much going on! Leicester substitution I haven’t had a chance to tell you about yet: Kelechi Iheanacho on for Matty James. Demarai Gray has just replaced Marc Albrighton.

Kasper Schmeichel is unable to claw the ball clear. Photograph: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
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GOAL! Arsenal 4-3 Leicester (Giroud 85)

Incredible scenes! From a corner, Olivier Giroud powers a brilliant header in off the left upright. It bounces behind the line before Kasper Schmeichel can claw it clear.

Olivier Giroud celebrates scoring Arsenal’s fourth. Photograph: Ian Kington/AFP/Getty Images
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84 min: You will not see a better first touch than the one with which Aaron Ramsey controlled the ball ... oh, hang on!

GOAL! Arsenal 3-3 Leicester (Ramsey 83)

Aaron Ramsey equalises for the Gunners. He’s been excellent since coming on.

Aaron Ramsey shoots past Wilfred Ndidi to score his team’s third. Photograph: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
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80 min: We’ve 10 minutes to go and Arsenal desperately need a goal to avoid hearing the “CRISIS KLAXON” being sounded. If they do lose, it will be interesting to hear if they are booed off ... after their first Premier League game of the season. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain shoots wide after being teed up by Granit Xhaka.

76 min: The clock ticks on as Leicester travelling fans strike up a rousing rendition of a song about their opposite numbers’ attempts to get behind their team. The lyrics have no place on a family minute-by-minute report, but you can probably guess what they are.

Bellerin going from right-wing-back to left-back and Oxlade-Chamberlain going from left-wing-back to right-back is novel

— Michael Cox (@Zonal_Marking) August 11, 2017

75 min: Arsenal substitution: Theo Walcott comes on for Danny Welbeck, moments after Mesut Ozil had fired into the side-netting.

Mesut Ozil has a shot on goal. Photograph: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
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74 min: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain sends a low, diagonal drive from distance fizzing just wide of the left upright. It took a nick off a defender on it’s way wide and Arsenal get a corner from which nothing comes.

72 min: Leicester substitution: Daniel Amartey replaces Shinji Okazaki, who has put in his usual Herculean shift and been rewarded with a goal. Leicester needed to shore up their midfield, as Arsenal have been dominating that area of the field since Ramsey came on.

71 min: Mesut Ozil tries to steer the ball inside the foot of the right upright after running on to a Lacazette pull-back from the left side of the penalty area. His effort is blocked.

69 min: The camera cuts to Alexis Sanchez in the posh seats again. He still looks glum, possibly because his very, very bored female companion from the first half appears to have abandoned him.

68 min: Ramsey immediately finds himself in the thick of the action, powering down the centre to get on the end of a Lacazette cross from the left and head wide. Christian Fuchs did enough to put him off, when he looked certain to score.

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64 min: Arsenal are behind, but dominating and creating the better chances. A replay of Vardy’s second goal shows that before Mahrez took his corner, Granit Xhaka was actually pointing at the unmarked Jamie Vardy and then let him run past him and looked on helplessly as the Leicester striker leaped to turn a splendid header inside the far post.

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62 min: Another fine save from Schmeichel, who is quick off his line to deny Hector Bellerin, who had been teed up nicely by Danny Welbeck and was bearing down on goal.

60 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain has a powerful drive blocked by Kasper Schmeichel and Alexandre Lacazette’s follow-up is ruled out by offside.

59 min: Hats off to Riyad Mahrez too, whose delivery from the corner was no source of mirth for Arsenal fans on that occasion. Who’s laughing now, eh?

57 min: Shocking defending by Arsenal again - they had nobody on either post, nobody to attack the ball as it came in and nobody marking Jamie Vardy, who gave his man the slip to flick a header in at the back stick. They’ve conceded two from corners tonight.

GOAL! Arsenal 2-3 Leicester (Vardy 56)

Oh Arsenal. Mahrez takes a corner and a completely unmarked Jamie Vardy skims a header across the box and in at the far post.

An unmarked Jamie Vardy heads in the third for Leicester. Photograph: Eddie Keogh/Reuters
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54 min: The camera cuts to Arsenal’s BFG Per Mertesacker, wearing his suit on the Arsenal bench. He’s oput tonight because of a gash on his head that needed 13 stitches. Only 13 and he can’t play? Wuss!

52 min: Sound the Classic Leicester klaxon! Riyad Mahrez plays Jamie Vardy through on goal with a wonderful ball from deep, turning defence into counter-attack in a heartbeat. Petr Cech charges out of his penalty area and dispossesses the striker with a wonderfully timed tackle. That could have been hideously embarrassing for the Arsenal goalkeeper if he’d got his timing wrong.

50 min: Leicester attack down the left flank again. The ball’s played across to the right, where Riyad Mahrez takes possession. His cross his ridiculously overhit and prompts laughs and jeers from Arsenal’s fans. Even Mahrez himself can laugh at the sheer badness of his effort.

48 min: Arsenal ping the ball around on the halfway line, without advancing up the field. The second half has got off to a considerably more sedate start to the first.

Second half: Arsenal 2-2 Leicester

46 min: Play resumes with no changes in personnel on either side. I thought Rob Holding might get hooked, as he’s looked the most uncomfortable in an Arsenal back three that struggled collectively on the back foot throughout the first half. They have not been helped by Petr Cech, who’s also looked panic-stricken at times. Then again, playing behind a defence that poorly organised, he can probably be excused for the occasional flap.

Half-time at the Emirates: Arsenal 2-2 Leicester City

The Premier League has got off to a lively start, with the players trooping off after a massively entertaining 45 minutes of football. Alexandre Lacazette opened the scoring after just two minutes, before Shinji Okazaki equalisedfor Leicester and Jamie Vardy put them ahead. Danny Welbeck levelled proceedings deep in added time, scrambling the ball home from close range after it had been squared to him by Sead Kolasinac. It was scruffy end to a sublime move in which Arsenal’s players tippy-tapped their way through the Leicester defence with laser-like speed and precision.

GOAL! Arsenal 2-2 Leicester City (Welbeck 45+2)

It’s all square again as Danny Welbeck scuffs home from about four yards after some delightfully intricate play by assorted Arsenal players in the Leciester penalty area.

Danny Welbeck collides with Kasper Schmeichel as he scores Arsenal’s second goal. Photograph: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
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45 min: Another Leicester corner, which leads to a throw-in deep in Arsenal territory. Christian Fuchs Delaps the ball goalwards and Petr Cech flaps. He sticks up a hand to prevent the ball sailing straight into his goal from the throw-in. It wouldn’t have counted ... I think, but will need to check just to be sure.

44 min: Marc Albrighton curls an inswinging cross towards the far post from deep and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain heads it out for a corner. Albrighton takes it, but there’s nobody in the area to convert his pretty good delivery.

41 min: There are loud penalty appeals as Leicester midfielder Onyine Ndidi handles the ball in his own penalty area. Although he did raise his arm, the ball was blasted at him by Sead Kolasinac from one yard away. Mike Dean declines to award a spot-kick.

39 min: On Sky Sports, Jamie Carragher points out that in the stands, the home crowd are already getting agitated. Meanwhile on the pitch, he says “it’s the same old problems year-in, year-out for Arsenal”. I suspect he’s talking about their lack of leadership and organisation in defence and lack of concentration when defending corners. Going forward, on the other hand, they’ve looked exquisite at times.

36 min: The camera cuts to Alexis Sanchez, who is sitting in the posh seats, chewing gum and looking a bit glum. He’s sitting beside a blonde woman, presumably his wife or girlfriend, who looks very, very bored. I hope she isn’t, because this is a very entertaining football match.

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33 min: Another Leicester attack down the left, The ball’s floated in again, this time by Matthew James and Shinji Okazaki out-jumps his marker to head inches wide of the upright.

32 min: Another Leicester counter-attack. This time it’s Riyad Mahrez who crosses from the left, but his delivery is too high for Vardy, who acknowledges his team-mates efforts with a wave.

31 min: That was classic Leicester - attacking on the counter and catching Arsenal with their pants down. Marc Albrighton crossed from the left, Jamie Vardy stole between two of Arsenal’s back three and fired home without breaking stride from about six yards. Great cross! Great finish! Shocking defending from Arsenal ... again. They’re really struggling with this back three.

GOAL! Arsenal 1-2 Leicester (Vardy 29)

Jamie Vardy fires Leicester ahead from six yards out. Arsenal in crisis! Let the chants of “WENGER OUT!!!” begin in earnest.

Jamie Vardy fires home from Albrighton’s cross. Photograph: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
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27 min: Sead Kolasinac smashes the ball towards Kasper Schmeichel, who blocks but can’t hold it. Arsenal are at their irresistible best around the Leicester penalty area at times, carving the defence open with neat, fast, passing. Oh ... hang on!

25 min: Arsenal go close again, with Danny Welbeck having another shot blocked. The ball breaks kindly for him and he gets an opportunity to pull it across the penalty area, but there’s nobody on hand to smash it home.

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