For Arsenal it had to be a corner and after last week it had to be Leandro Trossard who made the difference. The aftermath of last Sunday’s explosive 2-2 draw at Manchester City was intense, and a prominent topic of conversation was the moment that defined Arsenal’s darkly impressive backline action, namely Trossard’s second yellow card for putting the ball away. Here he saved his team.

It looked like Arsenal would throw two points away from a winning position for the third time this season. That and a sensational goal appearance from Leicester right-back James Justin in the second half and the defiance of goalkeeper Mads Hermansen. After making it 2-1 with a deflected header, Justin fired an irresistibly sweet volley to equalize. Hermansen made 13 saves – the most in a Premier League game since David de Gea here against Arsenal in 2017.

Arsenal’s total dominance in the first half, which saw goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Trossard, seemed meaningless, especially as they failed to find a way back into the game in normal time.

Enter Trossard. There were 94 minutes on the clock when Bukayo Saka sent a long corner over and the Belgian, the man Arsenal always seem to have in control in such situations beyond the far post, steered a volley towards goal. To beat Hermansen, Wilfred Ndidi had to save a powerful shot and the jury, who hate dubious goals, would class it as an own goal. But it was all about Trossard’s composure.

Kai Havertz made it 4-2 at the very end after a Justin free throw hit him and went into the goal, and it all ended well for Arsenal. Mikel Arteta had all the information, all the answers. Almost. And Arsenal could move level on points with City after their draw at Newcastle earlier in the day.

It was certainly the week when the gloves came off in Arsenal’s rivalry with sniping constant City, and this led to Pep Guardiola’s comment on Friday that a war between the clubs would happen if it was wanted. There was celebration at the Emirates before kick-off as City’s draw with Newcastle was announced right at the start of kick-off, but for Arsenal the focus had to be on what they were doing.

Leicester traveled to London without a league win but were competitive in all games and Steve Cooper worked to instill his principles. He wanted Ndidi to get up to support striker Jamie Vardy and his team had an early push when Justin burst inside on the right and saw a Riccardo Calafiori shot blocked. It would be an extremely isolated first-half push.

Arsenal brought the intensity and Leicester realized pretty quickly that it was going to be a struggle for them to escape their half. The hosts tried to win duels, especially William Saliba against Vardy, and a siege ensued.

Saka was prominent and Martinelli could have scored a hat-trick within 25 minutes. The chance for him to finish fell to Saka and Jurrien Timber on the right, with the former drifting inside and breaking Leicester out of shape before releasing his overlapping colleague. The woodcut was reduced and Martinelli’s spin into the far corner was a precise finish. Cooper was booked for complaining about a foul by Martinelli on Vardy.

Martinelli’s first chance came from a Saliba foul on Vardy; The Brazilian winger received a pass from Saka but lifted it up. With the score at 1-0, Martinelli forced Hermansen into a clever save and it was another Saliba tackle on Vardy that gave Arsenal their second goal.

Previously, Havertz had sent a downward header just past the post. Now Declan Rice went left to Martinelli and he moved back to Trossard, who opened his body to side-foot into the far corner.

At this point it looked almost too easy for Arsenal. Leicester seemed defeated. And yet after the restart they recovered impressively with a goal that said a lot about their fighting spirit. Facundo Buonanotte dropped a free kick and when Justin headed towards goal, the ball flew away from Havertz to deceive David Raya.

Arsenal pressed and Hermansen’s reflexes were superb, particularly when he made a double save from a corner to keep out headers from Gabriel Magalhães and Calafiori. In the third phase the wood flew up. Arsenal went close again when Trossard hit the outside of the post.

However, Leicester had hinted at an equaliser. It wasn’t that fancy when it came, just absolutely spectacular. The impressive Buonanotte had gone close twice and Arsenal no longer had control of the midfield.

Justin might never score a better volley, the technique was sublime as he crossed Ndidi’s deep cross with the outside of his right foot and sent the ball screaming past the far post.

Arsenal reset. They came again and created chances, but Hermansen had one of those games, one of the best of his life. Even when he made a mistake with a loose pass and played straight to Rice, he retaliated with a save from Trossard. Hermansen had made a brilliant save to keep out a volley from Havertz from close range.

There was more from the Dane, a goal kick from lively Arsenal substitute Ethan Nwaneri and a tip-over as Calafiori scrambled up from Saka’s corner. His resistance and that of Leicester were broken by death.