Leicester 0-2 Arsenal - Gabriel and Emile Smith Rowe extend Gunners' unbeaten run to NINE matches

Leicester 0-2 Arsenal – Gabriel and Emile Smith Rowe extend Gunners’ unbeaten run to NINE matches, as Aaron Ramsdale makes string of stunning saves to boost their top four hopes

Gabriel headed Arsenal in front following a Bukayo Saka corner in just the fifth minute for a stunning start
Gunners deservedly doubled their lead through Emile Smith Rowe just 13 minutes later leaving Foxes stunned
Leicester were denied by a stunning save from Aaron Ramsdale following James Maddison’s free-kick
Arsenal keeper made another series of stops in the second half to keep the improved Foxes at bay
Arsenal have now gone nine matches unbeaten in all competitions as they lay down top four challenge

Out of chaos comes a club striding at ever greater speeds. Out of a peculiar transfer comes a goalkeeper doing remarkable things. Never a dull moment at Arsenal. Not one.

And so they are climbing. They are climbing up the table, and fast, just as that goalkeeper, Aaron Ramsdale, climbed through the air to pull off a save for the ages at 2-0 up in the first half.

You might have seen it by now. If you haven’t it will pop up somewhere soon enough, old media or new. Stills or videos – it will translate, however you choose to take these things in. You will see James Maddison bending a free-kick to the upper-right corner, and it is placed perfectly, or near enough, a couple of yards in from the post and a couple down from the bar.

Leicester 0-2 Arsenal - Gabriel and Emile Smith Rowe extend Gunners' unbeaten run to NINE matches — Leicester 0-2 Arsenal – Gabriel and Emile Smith Rowe extend Gunners’ unbeaten run to NINE matches

Emile Smith Rowe (left) celebrates after firing Arsenal into a 2-0 lead at Leicester to give his team a perfect start

The Arsenal forward swept home with a neat first-time struck to double Arsenal’s advantage in just the 18th minute

Arsenal were excellent at the King Power Stadium as manager Mikel Arteta gives the thumbs up after the game

What happens next is the absurd bit. Ramsdale, that guy who cost close to £30m, notionally on the basis of being a substitute, took a leap. He dived to his left, full stretch, and with the ball just about beyond his bodyline, he arced his back and got his left hand to the ball’s underside. How he then had the strength in his fingers to push the shot on to the bar is anyone’s guess, but for a measure of how good it was, consider this tweet.

Best save I’ve seen for years.’ That was from Peter Schmeichel. He knows these things quite well. His lad, Kasper, was at the other end of the pitch, shaking his head. That just about covered it from Leicester’s perspective.

It was a stunning save, as was the block on Jonny Evans on the follow up. And the one to keep out Kalechi Iheanacho a short while beforehand. And those in the second half from Harvey Barnes and Ademola Lookman. There were more, far more, and they all bounced back off the same green wall.

Leicester were storming this game in those moments, and Arsenal are Arsenal, so a collapse was always possible, even at 2-0 after 18 minutes, achieved through Gabriel and Emile Smith-Rowe. But they have been on a wave for a few weeks now and Ramsdale kept them on it here. When the outfield 10 lost control, their goalkeeper kept them safe, dragging their unbeaten run to nine in all competitions.

Gabriel (right) had given Arsenal a superb start when he headed home a near post corner in just the fifth minute

The centre-back celebrates his goal which set the tone for an attacking first 20 minutes for the north London outfit

To think, their last defeat was Manchester City in August. The 5-0. The crisis. And now they have a strong attack, two brilliant young widemen in Smith-Rowe and Bukayo Saka, a defence that is fit for purpose and a goalkeeper who has played eight times for Arsenal and never lost. Mikel Arteta, so maligned, might be on to something after so much other evidence.

For Leicester, only frustration. Their season started as badly as Arsenal’s, and their resurgence lately had been almost as pronounced. On another day, against another keeper, they might even have turned this one around. Instead, Brendan Rodgers was beaten on his own patch, scoreless and pointless.

He had made one change to the side that beat Brentford in their previous Premier League fixture, with Luke Thomas elevated in place of Ricardo Pereira. It seemed like a reasonable line-up, all things considered, even if his defensive options remain depleted.

Arteta’s hands were tied loosely by the ongoing discomfort in Kieran Tierney’s ankle, which has now kept him out of three games. Had Nuno Tavares not looked so capable at left-back against Aston Villa eight days earlier, then perhaps Tierney would have been risked here, but Arteta was confident in backing an unchanged side for successive league games.

Leicester responded but were denied by a magnificent save by keeper Aaron Ramsdale following a James Maddison free-kick

On the follow up, the keeper was on hand again to deny Jonny Evans on the rebound near the end of the first half

Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers made two changes at half-time in the hope of getting an improved showing from his side

The XI also featured Ben White, whose ropey beginnings at Arsenal have been trending in a more positive manner lately. He had been a doubt owing to the illness that forced him off against Villa, and which then necessitated his absence from training this week, but he started alongside Gabriel. Together, they have been key in an improved defence recently; stability in a club that never seems too far from a dark night of the soul nor an outbreak of optimism.

The latter carried them through the opening half an hour of this one, in which they were excellent. They were helped by the sluggishness of Leicester, particularly in the rear ranks, but Arsenal made more than they were given.

As so often, it was Saka leading the advance party, and even prior to his involvement in the two first-half goals, he had caused a degree of carnage with an attack in the very first minute. By the fifth, Arsenal led, with Saka’s corner in-swinging at pace, and Gabriel glanced a header past Kasper Schmeichel after getting a stride ahead of Jonny Evans on a burst for the near post.

Across the next 10 minutes, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was also able to find space between static elements of the Leicester backline – his finish was from too tight an angle to threaten major damage – and Thomas Partey also drew a save. Leicester were fragmented in shape and sloppy on the ball, with the effect that Arsenal’s pressure was continuous.

Harvey Barnes was one of those changes but he was unable to find a way past Ramsdale in the Arsenal goal

Ramsdale is pulled away from Jonny Evans after a collision between the pair as the home side’s frustrations grew

Both sides and supporters paid their respects in Leicester’s final home game before Remembrance Sunday next month

The second goal involved Saka being allowed too much space on the right, from where he cut in and squared for Alexandre Lacazette. A Leicester challenge sent the ball to Smith Rowe, who finished for his fourth goal in seven in all competitions. A good finish to go with an earlier run in which he obliterated Daniel Amartey.

Leicester showed nothing of worth or promise until the final 15 minutes of the half, when they first engaged with Ramsdale. The first of their two best chances, off a shot from Iheanacho, was brilliantly tipped behind by Arsenal’s keeper. The second, from the Maddison free-kick, needs to be seen to be believed.

Rodgers brought on Harvey Barnes and Ademola Lookman at the break in a push for more forward thrust. Chances were quickly made for Thomas and Youri Tielemans – neither required a save – before Ramsdale then blocked Lookman and Barnes a couple of minutes apart.

Leicester kept coming as Arsenal had one of their wobbles, and Ramsdale kept saving. He will be standing guard for England before long if he keeps this up.

FULL-TIME: Leicester City 0-2 Arsenal