Leicester (AFP) – Arsenal ignored their injury woes to close the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool to four points as Mikel Merino came off the bench to clinch a 2-0 win against Leicester.
Mikel Arteta’s side were in danger of wasting a chance to put pressure on Liverpool in the title race as they laboured to make the breakthrough at the King Power Stadium.
But, with his attacking options limited by a host of injuries, Arteta sent on Spain midfielder Merino to act as a makeshift striker in the closing stages.
It proved an inspired move as Merino netted twice in the last nine minutes to extend Arsenal’s unbeaten run in the league to 15 games.
“We knew it was going to be tough. The first 20 minutes, we were too sloppy. We didn’t have a real threat and we weren’t playing with enough urgency,” Arteta said.
“We were much sharper in the second half. Mikel could give us something. He has a sense of danger and great timing in the box.
“We were on the verge of a different level of anxiety. But we were composed, scored two brilliant goals and could have scored one or two more.”
Having lost 2-0 at Newcastle in the League Cup semi-final second leg before an extended break due to their early FA Cup exit, the Gunners returned to action with a vital victory that keeps them hot on the heels of Liverpool.
“Let’s go day by day and take a lot of positives from the second half, but also know the first half wasn’t good enough to win games,” Arteta said.
With Kai Havertz ruled out for the season after suffering a hamstring injury while blocking a shot during Arsenal’s recent training trip to Dubai, Arteta was left with a threadbare attack.
Havertz’s injury blow came just weeks after Arsenal failed to sign Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins during the January transfer window.
Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli were already sidelined, so Arteta was forced to use Belgian winger Leandro Trossard as his central striker.
Underling the paucity of Arteta’s forward options, 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri and the out-of-form Raheem Sterling filled in on the flanks either side of Trossard.
Fortunately for Arteta, third-bottom Leicester were ideal opponents for his weakened team.
