Sports
Welbeck‘s late winner lifts Arsenal over Leicester
After 10 months out injured, Danny Welbeck took barely 10 minutes on his return from surgery to score a precious goal for Arsenal.
The striker’s header in the fifth minute of stoppage time secured a 2-1 victory over Leicester on Sunday, cutting the surprise Premier League frontrunner’s lead over the London club to two points.
Leicester was leading through Jamie Vardy’s 45th-minute penalty at the Emirates Stadium when Danny Simpson received two yellow cards in the opening nine minutes of the second half.
Arsenal had failed to register a shot on target at that stage, but Arsene Wenger’s substitutions delivered as intended.
Theo Walcott equalised with 20 minutes to go and Welbeck, who replaced Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the 83rd minute, headed in Mesut Ozil’s free kick in the fifth minute of stoppage time on his return from left knee surgery.
“In the last two training sessions he was very strong,” Wenger said. “Everyone is extremely happy for (Welbeck) because he has been out for 10 months which is an eternity for a player.”
It ensured Arsenal became the first team to complete the double this season over Leicester, which has only lost three times in the league.
Leicester, which was bottom of the league this time last season and narrowly escaped relegation, had been on a roll since losing to Liverpool in late December.
This loss punctures the cautious optimism building at Leicester that it could win the top prize in English football for the first time in its 132-year history.
But while Arsenal now has Champions League and FA Cup games, Leicester has almost two weeks off to regroup.
RipplesNigeria …without borders, without fears
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...