No title race panic! Arsenal player ratings vs Leicester as Gabriel Martinelli scores & Oleksandr Zinchenko stars as captain

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Gabriel Martinelli shoot Arsenal Leicester 2022-23
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The Gunners preserved their lead at the top of the table with a 1-0 win despite a wasteful performance

Gabriel Martinelli made the difference for Arsenal as they picked up a narrow 1-0 victory against Leicester on Saturday to protect their lead at the top of the Premier League.

The Gunners were the dominant force throughout the match, but had a hard time finding the net, with two goals being disallowed.

Martinelli recovered from a disappointing start to slot in the decisive goal early in the second half and proved tough for the home team to keep quiet, while captain for the day Oleksandr Zinchenko was brilliant for the visitors as he popped up everywhere.

GOAL rates Arsenal's players from King Power Stadium...

  1. Goalkeeper & Defence
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    Goalkeeper & Defence

    Aaron Ramsdale (6/10):

    Had very little to worry about as Leicester did not have a single shot until the 72nd minute, which was from distance and went wide.

    Ben White (5/10):

    A poor performance on the right side of defence. He went wide and pushed up but his passing game was weak.

    William Saliba (7/10):

    Has faced criticism recently but looked good in this game. Strong defensively and played an important long pass to Leandro Trossard to help create the opening goal.

    Gabriel (7/10):

    Looked good at the back, making some tackles to prevent the Foxes from finding a way to threaten Ramsdale.

    Oleksandr Zinchenko (8/10):

    A quality display from the Ukraine star, who was captaining the team in this game. He was heavily involved in Arsenal's attack and tracked back to do the dirty work defensively.

  2. Midfield
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    Midfield

    Martin Odegaard (6/10):

    Always looking to create chances and pick out some runs from the attackers but not his most effective game for the Gunners.

    Jorginho (7/10):

    Made some excellent passes, keeping the ball circulating as Arsenal dominated and adding to their many attacking moves.

    Granit Xhaka (6/10):

    A decent performance from the Swiss star as he pushed forward and tried to help keep pressure on Leicester.

  3. Attack
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    Attack

    Bukayo Saka (6/10):

    A quiet game from the youngster by his standards. Put one in the net but it was flagged for offside.

    Leandro Trossard (8/10):

    Blasted a stunner into the top corner to open the scoring but it was disallowed for a foul in the box. Played Martinelli through for the opener and was lively all the way through this match.

    Gabriel Martinelli (7/10):

    Had a disappointing first half but started the second perfectly by scoring a fine opening goal. Sadly he got injured in the process but was able to tough it out. Thought he had set up Saka for a second but was offside.

  4. Subs & Manager
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    Subs & Manager

    Eddie Nketiah (6/10):

    Came on for Trossard to switch the shape of Arsenal's attack but did not get much time on the ball as Leicester soon started to push forward.

    Thomas Partey (6/10):

    A late substitution for Odegaard but did not have time to make much of an impact.

    Takehiro Tomiyasu (N/A):

    Brought on deep in injury time for Zinchenko.

    Mikel Arteta (9/10):

    The coach set his team up well as they dominated throughout the match but his side should have been more of a threat considering the possession and number of shots they had. He did try to alter his team's attacking style by replacing false number nine Trossard with Eddie Nketiah but they still could not find the second goal.