Five of Arsenal’s crosses came during the 69 minutes before Merino was on the pitch and only one of those was successful. That was because Declan Rice was able to get on the end of one, though, and not Trossard - who was playing as the No9 at that point.

Mikel Merino started Valentine’s weekend in the doghouse but finished it as the darling of Arsenal fans. Facing the heartache of dropped points against a team fighting relegation, Merino came off the bench to score twice and provide an answer to Mikel Arteta’s injury crisis in attack.

Mikel Merino was the unlikely hero for Arsenal on Saturday, as the Spanish midfielder jumped of the bench and scored twice as an emergency striker to give them a 2-0 win at Leicester City. With Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus out for the rest of the season and wingers Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka both out,