Leicester City manager Steve Cooper was left fuming after his side’s heartbreaking defeat to Arsenal, laying the blame squarely on referee Sam Barrott for key decisions that contributed to the loss.
The Foxes went to the Emirates in search of their first win of the season, but faced a dominant Arsenal side that had title ambitions in mind.
From the outset, it was clear that Leicester were on the back foot, managing just a solitary touch in the Arsenal penalty area during the entire first half.
Arsenal capitalised on their early dominance, with Gabriel Martinelli breaking the deadlock after 20 minutes. The Brazilian latched onto a cross from Jurrien Timber to put the Gunners ahead.
Just before half-time, Martinelli turned provider, setting up Leandro Trossard for Arsenal’s second goal, leaving Leicester with a mountain to climb as they headed into the break.
Leicester’s fortunes changed after the interval, with James Justin twice finding the back of the net to haul his team back into the contest. His brace stunned the Emirates, and suddenly, Leicester found themselves level at 2-2, with a glimmer of hope of salvaging something from the game.
However, disaster struck in stoppage time when Wilfred Ndidi inadvertently deflected a corner into his own net, giving Arsenal the lead once again. To rub salt in the wounds, Kai Havertz added a fourth for Arsenal in the dying moments, sealing a 4-2 victory for the hosts.
Speaking to Match of the Day after the match, Cooper expressed his frustration with the officiating, particularly regarding Arsenal’s opening goal.
“It was disappointing with the way we concede the goals because they are typical Arsenal goals with the cut-backs, we’ve done a lot of work trying to deal with that,” Cooper said.
“I don’t want to make the headlines around referees. I’m trying to take responsibility for a team trying to do better in the Premier League but it’s a clear foul on Jamie Vardy for the first goal and [Riccardo Calafiori] has to get sent off for a second yellow.”
Cooper hinted that there were other refereeing decisions that went against Leicester but chose not to elaborate, adding:
“There’s so much more we could say, the whole game knows, but I’m not going down that road today.”
Leicester were indebted to goalkeeper Mads Hermansen for keeping them in the game, with the young shot-stopper making a string of important saves.
Despite the late drama, Cooper remained proud of his team’s second-half performance. “Tough one to take to be fair. Proud of the second half performance particularly. If it’s a team that’s not together, they can really go under after the first half,” he said.
The Leicester manager also highlighted the unfortunate nature of the third goal. “To have that deflection for the third goal is just a bit of where our luck is, but then the fourth goal is against the run of play.”
Cooper concluded by urging his players to stay positive despite the result. “You have to stand up, you have to keep believing in what you are doing. These are the demands of the Premier League. We fell on the wrong side today,” he said.