Leicester City Opinion: Hamza Choudhury was the architect of the Foxes 3-1 victory over Arsenal

Leicester City kept their hopes of securing a Europa League qualification spot alive with an emphatic 3-0 victory over Arsenal at the King Power Stadium in the Premier League on Sunday.

The Gunners, on the other hand, left their top-four hopes hanging by a thread with another damaging defeat away from home, having lost back-to-back games against Crystal Palace and Wolves last week.

With Leicester eyeing a 7th-place finish to secure entry into the qualification rounds of the Europa League and Arsenal battling for a Champions League spot, both the teams had plenty to play for on Sunday, and it was Leicester who had the last laugh.

The Foxes looked head and shoulders above their opposition in all aspects of the game and absolutely demolished the Gunners on their home turf.

Brendan Rodgers’ side dominated the proceedings right from the very beginning and had multiple chances to open the scoring in the first half, only to be denied by some superb goalkeeping from Bernd Leno. Jamie Vardy ran in behind a fragile Arsenal backline on numerous occasions but he wasn’t able to find the right finish.

Wilfried Ndidi’s powerful header forced a brilliant reflex save from Leno, while Alexandre Lacazette fired wide from a promising position and Alex Iwobi had his shot saved by Kasper Schmeichel.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles showed his inexperience and earned himself a second yellow card for a horrible tackle on James Maddison, reducing Arsenal to 10 men and shifting the balance further in favour of the home side.

It was all Leicester in the second half and Youri Tielemans finally made the numerical advantage count, making a superb run behind Sokratis and heading it home off Maddison’s sumptuous cross to put the Foxes in the lead just before the hour-mark.

Bernd Leno made a superb double-save to deny Ricardo Pereira and Harvey Barnes in quick succession but it was Jamie Vardy to took his goal tally in the Premier League to 18 for the season, scoring a brace late in the game to cap off a dominant display from the Foxes.

Leicester had 68% of the possession and registered a total of 611 passes at an accuracy rate of 84%, while Arsenal managed to string together a meagre 293 passes. Leicester had as many as 24 attempts on goal (12 on target), while Arsenal registered a solitary shot on target over the course of the entire ninety minutes.

The likes of James Maddison, Youri Tielemans and Jamie Vardy all impressed in the final third but 21-year-old academy product Hamza Choudhury was the key architect of Leicester’s rampant display on Sunday.

Making his first start under Brendan Rodgers, Choudhury was drafted into a holding role deep in the midfield and the youngster showed exactly why he is held in such high regard by the Leicester faithful.

It is not very often that you see someone getting the better of Lucas Torreira with his physicality but Choudhury managed to do that and made a massive impact in the midfield. To be fair to say, he single-handedly took Torreira to the cleaners and allowed the likes of Maddison and Tielemans to get forward and spark creativity in the attack.

It was Choudhury’s fifth start of the season in the Premier League but he has been a part of the team’s most impressive victories in this campaign, having featured as a starter in wins against Chelsea and Man City back in December.

And the most impressive thing about the 21-year-old was how he combined the different aspects of his game on Sunday- using his strength, tenacity and stamina to win back possession and also showcasing wonderful composure with the ball at his feet.

Choudhury not only held things together at the heart of the midfield but he impressed with his positioning, flawless passing and distribution as well, registering a total of 47 passes with a remarkable accuracy percentage of 97.9, including 2 key passes, 1 cross-field pass and 1 successful long ball.

To add to that, the starlet also chipped in with 3 tackles and 2 interceptions. No wonder the fans at the King Power Stadium gave him a standing ovation when Nampalys Mendy came on to replace him towards the end of the game.

To Read More Leicester City News, Click Here:- Latest Leicester City News

The 21-year-old proved once again that he is one of the brightest young talents to have emerged from Leicester’s academy in recent years and the fans would be hoping to see a lot more of him in the future.