Arsenal's hopes of getting into the Premier League top four was dealt another major blow on Sunday as they fell to a 3-0 thumping at the King Power Stadium at the hands of Leicester City.
The Gunners, who were reduced to ten men mid-way through the first-half following Ainsley Maitland-Niles' two bookings, looked so far off the pace throughout the whole game. However, it took until the second-half for their resistance to be broken as Youri Tielemans headed in the opener before Jamie Vardy bagged a brace in the closing stages to seal a fantastic win for the hosts.
Story of the match
Gunners toothless
Having suffered defeats in their past two games, Gunners' supporters would have been forgiven for expecting a reaction in the East-Midlands. Leicester looked the most likely to score thoughas Bernd Leno had to be on hand to paw away Wilfred Ndidi's header. Alex Iwobi could have opened the scoring for the visitors but fired straight at Kasper Schmeichel.
Leicester's task was made slightly easier with Maitland-Niles' dismissal. Having already picked up a booking, the youngster produced a late challenge on James Maddison and was given his marching orders.
Despite Leicester's dominance, they were not quite able to take advantage of their extra man as the sides went into the break level.
Foxes turn on style
The second-half was a relative coast for Brendan Rodgers' men as they continued to dominate the possession and the majority of the chances. Ricardo Pereira and Harvey Barnes both forced Leno into solid saves.
The scores were not to stay level for long though as Tielemans opened the scoring with a fantastic header. The Belgian midfielder had managed to ghost into the penalty area and dispatch Maddison's cross low into the net.
Vardy then extended the lead with only a few minutes left as he latched onto a wonderful long pass from Kasper Schmeichel. Faced one-on-one with Leno, the forward attempted to chip the ball into the net and was unfortunate to see it bounce off of the bar. He was the most alert though to tuck in the rebound.
Barnes should again have wrapped up the win as the Foxes broke on the counter-attack but should only shoot straight at Leno. The points were eventually sealed with the last kick of the game as Pereira showed fantastic determination to surge through the Arsenal defence before putting the ball on a plate for Vardy to tuck home.
Takeaways
Leno the standout for Arsenal
The German goalkeeper was the clear man-of-the-match for Emery's troops. Without the former Bayer Leverkusen man, the deficit could have been far bigger, potentially to embarrassing levels. He was pretty much the only Gunner who left the King Power Stadium with any credit.
'Sign him up' - again
The calls for Leicester to sign Youri Tielemans on a permanent deal are getting stronger and stronger by the week. If he hadn't had endeared himself to the Foxes' supporters already, then he certainly has now following his latest strike.
The on-loan AS Monaco man opened the scoring with a fantastic header and once again showed plenty of composure and maturity in the centre of midfield. It will be a major boost should he elect to remain in the East-Midlands beyond the summer.
£100m strike force?
There have been numerous suggestions for the Gunners to spend big on their defence this summer - not so much on their attack. Fielding Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Arsenal can boast on paper one of the best strike forces in the country - not that you've had known it on Sunday.
The duo really struggled to have any impact on the game, being superbly marshalled by Jonny Evans and Harry Maguire. So often the saviours for the Gunners, the two were practically non-existent.