With Arsène Wenger having presided over the only team to complete a Premier League season without defeat, perhaps Arsenal saw it as some kind of duty to tick off the division’s final unbeaten record. Leciester’s run fell when they came up against a team who matched their willingness for attacks at the highest velocity and added a layer of sophistication.


Arsenal also had Alexis Sánchez back to his best. The Chilean has, understandably, been tired and flatter than his most exuberant self after spending last summer winning the Copa América. But here the full sparkle was back. His first hat-trick for the club at a stadium where visiting players are not used to profiting was emphatic proof of that.


In seeking for the right word to sum up the Leicester style recently, Claudio Ranieri simply went “whooosh”, and this match was played by both teams in the spirit of whooosh football. But for all the verve that Leicester could offer, Arsenal found more.