Leicester 0-2 Arsenal: Mikel Merino scores twice as Gunners close gap on Liverpool | OneFootball

Gunners leave it late to secure all three points at the King Power

Arsenal have closed the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool to four points after a 2-0 win over Leicester.

With no recognised striker available, Mikel Arteta opted for Leandro Trossard to lead the line which meant Ethan Nwaneri and Raheem Sterling - on a rare start - were tasked to provide support from the flanks.

However, the lack of a focal point certainly affected Arsenal in the first-half.

Whilst Nwaneri stood out with some nice touches and a couple of brilliant crosses into the box, the more experienced pair struggled.

Trossard spurned two chances after failing to sort out his feet whilst Sterling was caught offside a number of times before seeing an effort deflected behind for a corner.

Despite all of Arsenal’s possession, Leicester had the best chance right on the stroke of half-time when Victor Kristiansen picked out an unmarked Wilfred Ndidi in the area but the midfielder put his header wide.

There was a slight improvement from the Gunners early in the second half as Nwaneri was inches away from breaking the deadlock whilst Sterling had a half chance after being teed up by Declan Rice.

Arteta rolled the dice in search of a goal, taking off Sterling and replacing him with Mikel Merino in a switch that would prove to be a masterstroke.

Though, the visitors were fortunate to not concede a few moments later as Myles Lewis-Skelly produced a brilliant piece of back-post defending to deny Bobby De Cordova-Reid a certain goal.

Nwaneri then smacked an effort against the post before turning provider for Merino to break the deadlock. The youngster’s superb inswinging chipped cross from the right wing picked out the Spaniard who rose highest in the box to head the ball past Mads Hermansen.

Not content with one goal off the bench, Merino completed his brace six minutes later with a composed finish to ensure Arsenal secured a big win in their pursuit of Liverpool.