Arsene Wenger's penultimate match as Arsenal manager ended in a seventh consecutive Premier League away defeat this evening as they fell to a 3-1 loss against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.
The hosts took the lead through Kelechi Iheanacho in the 14th minute, and things went from bad to worse for the Gunners just one minute later when Konstantinos Mavropanos was shown a straight red card for dragging Iheanacho to ground as the last man.
Arsenal avoided any further damage in the first half and even levelled things up through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after the interval, but goals in the final 15 minutes from Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez wrapped up a rare win for the Foxes.
Find out how all of the action unfolded from a thrilling contest courtesy of Sports Mole's minute-by-minute updates below.
Neither of these two teams have much to play for aside from pride in the closing week of the season, although both managers will want to see some fight from their players. Claude Puel is under increasing pressure for the Foxes, whereas Wenger has only two games left including tonight before his 22-year reign comes to an end.
We will take a closer look at both teams in a moment, but first let's check out the team news...
Well, we will have a look at the hosts in a short while, but let's start by checking out the Arsenal team news as Arsene Wenger makes four changes to the side that gave him such a good send-off against Burnley at the weekend.
Among those to drop out is Alexandre Lacazette - scorer of eight goals in his last nine games across all competitions - as he missed out on a place in the squad altogether. There was no reported injury for the Frenchman, so that appears to be merely down to rotation.
Calum Chambers is also absent from the 18, with Maitland-Niles, Rob Holding, Aaron Ramsey and Danny Welbeck the quartet to come into their side for Wenger's penultimate Arsenal team selection.
Aubameyang has been in fine form since arriving at the Emirates Stadium, scoring eight goals and registering four assists in his 11 Premier League appearances for the Gunners, and he is sure to be a central figure for whoever replaces Wenger in the dugout.
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While the severity of that injury always looked bad, there has been questions asked regarding Mesut Ozil, who is now expected to miss the rest of the season with a back injury - although he has insisted that he will be fine in time for the World Cup.
Schmeichel, Okazaki, Ndidi, Huth, James, Chilwell and Amartey are all sidelined for the Foxes at the moment, while Marc Albrighton is suspended for the rest of the season after accepting a misconduct charge for his red card against Crystal Palace.
Vicente Iborra is another who has been struggling with an issue recently, starting the weekend defeat to West Ham but only lasting until half time, but he only makes the bench tonight, which suggests that he is not quite at full fitness at the moment.
Hamer had been preferred to Schmeichel in the previous games without the Dane, but it is Jakupovic who gets the nod this evening, while Iheanacho will hope to provide and extra goal threat having replaced Iborra in the starting lineup.
Vardy has scored five goals in his last five Premier League games against the Gunners - including a brace in the reverse fixture - and while Leicester as a team are not firing on all cylinders at the moment, he must still feel confident that he can add to that tally tonight.
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The Leicester hierarchy are already reportedly considering a swoop for Huddersfield boss David Wagner, and they certainly have not been shy in changing manager in the past - just ask Nigel Pearson and Claudio Ranieri!
However, much like Sam Allardyce at Everton, the fans are unhappy with the team's playing style. Boos were heard at the end of both halves of Saturday's defeat to West Ham, and there was even a banner imploring Puel to leave - scenes I'm sure Arsene Wenger in the opposite dugout will sympathise with.
The Foxes could still mathematically finish as low as 14th this season - although that is highly unlikely due to goal difference - while they can finish no higher than eighth, and even Everton would be uncatchable if Leicester fail to win this game.
Leicester's form has taken a particularly sharp nosedive in recent weeks too, taking just one point from their last five league outings with a draw and three defeats in that time. Another defeat tonight would make it three losses on the bounce for the first time since February 2017.
Leicester have not failed to score in four successive Premier League games since a dismal run of six in February 2017.
The most recent of those matches came against West Ham on Saturday as Leicester barely threatened in a 2-0 defeat to the then relegation-threatened visitors - a result which made it their joint-longest home winless run in the Premier League.
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Leicester have been wildly inconsistent at home all season, though, winning six, drawing six and losing six of their 18 matches. Indeed, the Foxes would be 13th if only home form counted, compared to seventh if only away form counted.
Incredibly, Arsenal are yet to win a single point on their travels in 2018, which no other team in England or Europe have managed to do. With the players at Arsenal's disposal that really is a damning statistic.
Surely Arsenal must turn that form around before Wenger's departure, but if they fall to yet another defeat tonight then it would be seven successive away defeats for the first time since January 1966.
Only three teams - Swansea, Brighton and Stoke - have picked up fewer points on their travels this season, with Arsenal amassing a measly 13 points from 17 games and winning just three times.
Arsenal have won their last five home games and the two Manchester clubs are the only visiting teams to have won at the Emirates in their last 26 home games, so it is solely that away form which has let them down.
Across all competitions things are a little better, but not much. Arsenal have won twice on the road this calendar year in the Europa League, but those are their only two wins in a spell which has also seen them beaten eight times. That includes an ongoing run of three defeats in a row, and another tonight would make it four on the bounce for the first time since May 2010.
The Gunners did end a three-match winless streak in all competitions on Sunday, though, as they put on a show for Arsene Wenger in his final home match with a 5-0 triumph over Burnley. That was only Arsenal's second win in their last seven matches.
However, the history books will not read kindly for the Frenchman's final season. Arsenal are now guaranteed to finish sixth, which is their lowest position in Wenger's 22-year reign. They are also guaranteed the lowest points tally of Wenger's time at the club and have already lost 12 league games this season - more than they had in any previous campaign since 1994-95.
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This is actually quite an intriguing game considering Arsenal are in such poor away form. However, the 5-0 win over Burnley - and the exit parade surrounding Wenger - should help the Gunners to lift their game that bit further in these final two outings of the season. Leicester, by contrast, already looked like they were on the beach against West Ham and a similar performance here will surely only result in defeat.
SPORTS MOLE SAYS: Leicester 0-2 Arsenal
Indeed, Leicester are the team Wenger has faced most without losing in his entire managerial career, winning 14 and drawing eight of their 22 meetings in this era, although one of those draws did result in a penalty shootout defeat in the FA Cup fourth round replay at Filbert Street in January 2000.
That makes for Arsenal's longest ever unbeaten run against a single opponent in their top-flight history, so it is safe to say that the Gunners are something of a bogey team for Leicester.
Lacazette opened the scoring after two minutes before Okazaki restored parity three minutes later. A brace from Vardy either side of a Welbeck goal right on the stroke of half time then saw Leicester lead heading into the final 10 minutes, but goals from Ramsey in the 83rd minute and Giroud in the 85th sealed a dramatic win for the Gunners.
LEICESTER STARTING XI: Jakupovic; Simpson, Morgan, Maguire, Fuchs; Choudhury, Silva, Mahrez, Diabate; Iheanacho; Vardy
ARSENAL STARTING XI: Cech; Maitland-Niles, Holding, Mavropanos, Kolasinac; Xhaka, Ramsey, Iwobi, Mkhitaryan, Welbeck; Aubameyang
49 - This is the joint-highest number of goals Arsenal have conceded in a single Premier League campaign, level with 1994-95 and 2011-12. Wobbly.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 9, 2018
...But that lead was short-lived, and Brighton have levelled things up again through Leonardo Ulloa. It is 1-1 at the Etihad Stadium!
Arsenal actually started the brighter here, but things went horribly for wrong for them around the quarter-hour mark and in the end they will consider themselves fortunate to go into half time with only a one-goal deficit.
Arsenal had earlier failed to clear their lines from a corner, which came as a result of a Cech stop from Vardy, and they paid the price for it as Iheanacho applied an unerring finish past the keeper.
The hosts proceeded to create a string of chances throughout the remainder of the half, but Arsenal somehow held out to go in with only a one-goal deficit. There is still a lot of work for them to do here, though.
It is really good play from Maitland-Niles down the right as he reaches the byline before playing a low ball into the box. Aubameyang meets it only to see his first save spectacularly saved by Jakupovic, but the Arsenal striker is alert to the follow-up and fires it into the roof of the net.
9 - Since making his Premier League debut, only Mohamed Salah (12) has scored more goals in the competition than Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Impact. pic.twitter.com/0roZ322z7G
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 9, 2018
The spot kick itself is contentious as Mkhitaryan hangs out a leg and appears to catch Gray on the knee, albeit not enough to bring the Leicester winger down. Graham Scott points to the spot nonetheless, and Vardy slams his penalty into the top corner to leave Cech no chance at all. Brilliant penalty.
It was non-stop action for the vast majority of the match as both sides looked to get forward at every available opportunity - even Arsenal after they had gone down to 10 men with just 15 minutes on the clock.
Leicester were already a goal to the good at that stage courtesy of Iheanacho's strike, but Aubameyang levelled things up for the Gunners early in the second half. However, a Vardy penalty and classy Mahrez finish in the final 15 minutes wrapped up a rare win for Leicester as they condemned Arsenal to yet another away defeat.
Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for tonight's match as Leicester edge 10-man Arsenal in a thrilling penultimate game for Arsene Wenger. I will leave you with our match report, and be sure to stick around for reaction too.
From me, though, it is goodbye for now!
