Leicester City vs. Arsenal: Score and Reaction from 2016 EPL Match

Leicester City and Arsenal each earned their first points of the 2016-17 Premier League season after a 0-0 draw at the King Power Stadium on Saturday.

The Gunners were in firm control for much of the fixture and created the bulk of scoring opportunities in front of goal, while referee Mark Clattenburg found himself at the centre of a few contentious penalty calls, awarding none.

Laurent Koscielny returned to the Arsenal starting XI to partner summer signing Rob Holding in central defence, while Granit Xhaka also got his first Premier League start and Mesut Ozil settled for a bench spot.

It's early days in the season just yet, but Vice writer Will Magee couldn't help but highlight the gap already separating Arsenal and Leicester from the top of the table:

Both teams came into Saturday's meeting desperate to get a result after losing in Week 1, with Leicester dropping to promoted Hull City 2-1 while Arsenal suffered a 4-3 defeat at Liverpool's hands.

Those tensions were telling on the match itself, too, as both sides looked apprehensive in their own spells over the opening 20 minutes, but the home fans at least ensured they were entertained, per the Telegraph:

Manager Arsene Wenger's men swiftly mounted their usual advantage in time on the ball, while Leicester counterpart Claudio Ranieri looked at peace with his hosts operating largely on the counter.

With Olivier Giroud on the bench, Alexis Sanchez kept his place as the Gunners' most advanced attacking asset, with Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain either side.

Cech almost landed himself in hot water in the 43rd minute when he came out to challenge a Leicester player inside his own box before being stranded in no man's land, although the chance came to nought.

Leicester's players appealed for a penalty after it appeared Danny Drinkwater had been clipped in the process, and former referee Howard Webb told BT Sport defender Koscielny may have been fortunate:

Heading in at the break, it was unsurprisingly the Gunners who were well in control of possession, and it was yielding efforts in front of goal, too, albeit with no end product.

Opta statistician Orbinho provided a breakdown of the half-time numbers, which suggested it was the north Londoners in the ascendancy:

Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel continued to be called into action and was happy to run off his line to dismiss any Arsenal pressure, but the screw was starting to turn against his side.

Jamie Vardy had an excellent opportunity to finally deliver the breakthrough after 70 minutes following a defensive error from Arsenal, but the England forward ballooned his effort over Cech's bar in an ugly fashion.

Match of the Day described how many fans would have been feeling after coming into this clash expecting goals en masse:

Wenger made his move to instigate a change in momentum, bringing on the trio of Jack Wilshere, Ozil and Giroud with just over 15 minutes remaining, but still Arsenal's pressure failed to bear fruit.

Ahmed Musa came on as a late substitute and almost immediately won Leicester a penalty, except Clattenburg didn't believe Arsenal's Hector Bellerin fouled the Nigerian.

The BBC's John Bennett felt a spot-kick may have been just:

The fact that penalty claims were about as close as we came to a goal at the King Power summed up events between Leicester and Arsenal, with last season's top two finishers struggling to find form this season.

A point apiece will most likely be looked upon as a fair result for both teams, and the search for a maiden win in 2016-17 lingers on for both outfits.  

Post-Match Reaction

OLI SCARFF/Getty Images

The return of Koscielny saw Arsenal emit a much more refined aura in defence on Saturday, but it was Holding who stole the headlines as far as his manager was concerned.

The topic of conversation in Wenger's post-match press conference inevitably turned to the transfer market, and the Frenchman couldn't help but jest at the lack of attention given to smaller-budget signings, per BBC Sport:

"

It's not just about spending the money. We are ready to spend the money but we have to find players who will improve our team.

Nobody speaks about the performance of Rob Holding today - he is English, he is 20 years old, you should be happy. But I am sorry he didn't cost £55m. We don't speak about the performances anymore and I think that is not right.

"

It appears the Gunners chief will stick to his guns for the remainder of the transfer window instead of being bullied into major expenses, remaining stoic that his approach to spending works to good effect.

Leicester boss Ranieri may have been disappointed with just a single point to show for his side's meeting against the Gunners, but the Italian chose to see the positives in the result, per the Premier League:

Neither manager could argue against a point in the end, especially considering the penalty calls that seemed to go against Leicester, whose slow start to the new term continued at home to Arsenal.