Mikel Merino's double strike seals Arsenal's victory over Leicester City
What's the story
Mikel Arteta's bold move to deploy Mikel Merino as a forward paid off as Arsenal cruised to a 2-0 win over Leicester City at the King Power Stadium in a crucial Premier League contest on Saturday.
Leandro Trossard was initially tasked with spearheading the attack with Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus injured.
But after a dull first 70 minutes, Arteta made a daring switch, bringing Merino on for Raheem Sterling.
And that paid dividends.
Game changer
Merino's quickfire double seals Arsenal's win
Usually a midfielder, Merino adjusted to his new role quickly and scored two quick goals.
The 28-year-old first found the net after connecting with Ethan Nwaneri's cross, giving Arsenal the lead.
He then sealed their victory by scoring his second goal at the back post soon after.
This surprise move by Arteta appears to have given a temporary solution to Arsenal's striker dilemma as they chase Liverpool in the league standings.
League standings
Arsenal narrow gap with league leaders Liverpool
The win over Leicester City has taken Arsenal closer to league leaders Liverpool, cutting the gap to just four points.
This comes ahead of Liverpool's home game against Wolves on Super Sunday.
For Leicester City, this defeat is another blow which keep them among the bottom three teams in the league.
After 25 matches, the Gunners own 53 points. This was their 15th win of the season.
Leicester are 18th, having suffered their 16th defeat of the campaign.
Information
Here are the match stats
Arsenal had 1.47 expected goals to that of Leicester's 0.20. Arsenal had 11 attempts with 5 shots on target. The Foxes managed 5 attempts with two shots on target. Arsenal had 32 touches in the opposition box. The Foxes managed 25. Arsenal also had 60% ball possession.
Merino
Super sub Merino shines for the Gunners
As per Squawka, Super sub Merino played 21 minutes and had 16 touches on the ball. He won 2 aerial duels and won 2 touches in opposition box. Merino clocked 2 shots and scored 2 goals.
Merino is the first Arsenal substitute to score two goals in a Premier League away game since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang did so against Fulham in October 2018.
It's the first time he has ever scored a brace in the top five European leagues.
Do you know?
7th successive defeat for Leicester versus Arsenal in Premier League
As per Opta, this was the 7th straight defeat for Leicester against Arsenal in the Premier League. Meanwhile, Arsenal have won 4 successive away Premier League games against the Foxes.