Leicester City 3-0 Arsenal: Gunners boss Unai Emery ‘very proud’ of his players despite heavy defeat
Arsenal's hopes of reaching the top four suffered yet another setback but the manager came out in defence of his players after the game
Arsenal boss Unai Emery said he was ‘proud’ of his players despite suffering a heavy defeat at Leicester.
The Gunners' hopes of reaching the top four suffered another blow with a 3-0 defeat at the King Power Stadium.
Youri Tielemans second-half opener and two late strikes from Jamie Vardy sealed the result.
Arsenal have been in wretched form over the past seven days which saw them lose at home to Crystal Palace and suffer a hammering at Wolves last Sunday and Wednesday respectively.
Speaking after the game, Emery said: “The players worked very well. I am very proud of them.
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“And with one player less they continued our game plan and thinking first to be together.
“They were more defensively strong and in attacking moments we need to take our moment.
The course of the game changed when full-back Ainsley Maitland-Niles was sent off on 36 minutes for two bookable offences.
Maitland-Niles' second yellow came for a late challenge on James Maddison and his first one was for a foul on Ben Chilwell.
But Emery had reservations about Maitland-Niles' first booking which eventually led to his dismissal, making life more difficult for his players.
Emery added: “I don’t agree with the first yellow card.
“We were playing a lot of minutes of the match with one less player and it’s more difficult.
“Our game plan was working well. We know it was not easy to win but I was very happy when we were playing 11 against 11.
“But after the red card it gave us more difficulty in the match.”