Danny Welbeck scored a stoppage-time winner as Arsenal completed a dramatic second-half comeback to beat ten-man Leicester 2-1 and move within two points of the Premier League leaders.
Jamie Vardy controversially won and then converted a penalty on the stroke of half-time before Danny Simpson was sent off in the 54th minutes after picking up two yellow cards in quick succession.
Theo Walcott equalised with 19 minutes left and after laying siege to Leicester’s goal, Welbeck climbed highest to head home Mesut Ozil’s free-kick with virtually the last kick of the match to cap his first appearance since April in the best possible fashion after undergoing knee surgery.
Arsenal were forced into a change in defence after Gabriel picked up a minor hamstring strain in training. Per Mertesacker came in at centre-back while Wenger restored Francis Coquelin to the starting line-up at the expense of Mathieu Flamini.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain kept his place from last weekend’s 2-0 win at Bournemouth to make his 100th Premier League appearance and the 23-year-old broke clear down the right and forced an early corner as Arsenal attempted to make a fast start.
The proposed fan protest - in anger at Sky Sports’ decision to move the kick-off time from Saturday afternoon to Sunday lunchtime with just three weeks’ notice - never materialised as rather than boycott the first five minutes, the away end was packed from the outset.
Alexis Sanchez headed wide from a corner early on but Arsenal should have had a penalty in the 10th minute when Oxlade-Chamberlain burst into the box and N’Golo Kante blocked his attempted cross with an outstretched hand. Referee Martin Atkinson was unmoved.
Aaron Ramsey then burst clear after being released by Ozil following a frantic spell of high-tempo pressing on both sides. Kasper Schmeichel appeared unlikely to make it when deciding to sprint off his line to meet Ramsey but he won the ball with a slide tackle as Ramsey tried and failed to dink it over him for a run through to an unguarded net.
The ball broke Leicester’s way and they worked it to Marc Albrighton, who crossed to the back post where Vardy towered above Hector Bellerin and directed a firm header low down to Petr Cech’s right but the Arsenal goalkeeper was equal to it.
Leicester eased themselves into the game thereafter with Kante a particularly eye-catching presence in midfield, disrupting Arsenal’s rhythm by putting out fires as soon as a match was lit.
Whenever the Gunners did threaten, they misfired in front of goal. Oxlade-Chamberlain played a quick one-two with Olivier Giroud and found Sanchez with a cross from the right but Wes Morgan blocked his tame effort.
Giroud had the ball in the net after 25 minutes but he was rightly flagged offside from Ozil’s right-wing cross.
Arsenal continued to look more purposeful going forward but, as they have done time and again this season, Leicester defied the odds with a menacing counter-attack.
Morgan went in strongly on Ozil - climbing on top off the Germany international to win a header - to launch a Leicester break. Wenger protested furiously that Ozil was fouled and his ire reached greater levels moments later as Kante broke quickly, turning the ball onto Vardy.
Vardy took a heavy touch as he approached the box, encouraging him to commit Monreal into a tackle he did not want to make. Vardy’s intention was clear but after beating the Arsenal left-back for skill, Monreal made contact and Atkinson pointed to the spot.
At such a significant moment in the title race, nerves may have been a factor but Vardy simply rattled his penalty past Cech with unerring conviction.
Koscielny suffered a dead leg and was replaced by Calum Chambers at the interval but Arsenal received great encouragement nine minutes after the interval.
The Gunners’ players and supporters focused their sense of injustice on Atkinson and he was forced into another big decision which this time went in the home side’s favour. Simpson was booked for pulling down Sanchez and then received his marching orders for another foul on Giroud five minutes later.
Leicester sacrificed Riyad Mahrez for Marcin Wasilewski in response. Coquelin, needlessly, pushed Mahrez as he walked off the pitch with Arsenal desperate to find a way back into the game.
It would be his last act as Wenger replaced him with Walcott for the final 30 minutes. The gamble paid off. With 19 minutes left, Bellerin crossed from the right, Giroud headed the ball down to Walcott in the box and he showed excellent composure to sidefoot the ball past Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.
The visitors’ resistance had finally been broken and the final 19 minutes represented a huge test of their character as Arsenal poured forward. Sanchez fired wide when well placed before Ramsey curled an effort off target from the edge of the box.
Arsenal attacked, Leicester repelled. Vardy was completely isolated up front while at the other end, Wenger introduced Welbeck for Oxlade-Chamberlain with seven minutes remaining as the Gunners searched for a winning goal.
Mertesacker headed Ozil’s cross wide from 10 yards out before Ramsey and Walcott went close but Welbeck had the last word.
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