Neil Humphreys: Why all's not lost for fabulous Foxes
Leicester City's battered underdogs are bloody, but unbowed.
Defeat in such late, dramatic circumstances is always the bitterest pill to swallow, but perspective should prevail.
Claudio Ranieri's men will wake up from last night's nightmare to a more comforting reality.
The dream is still on. Those ferocious Foxes can still win the title.
The overworked cliche had dictated that consecutive fixtures against Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal would end their doe-eyed Premier League aspirations.
But Leicester won two and were only narrowly beaten 2-1 by the Gunners, after conceding a silly free-kick in the dying seconds.
The positives still greatly outweigh the negatives.
Crucially, their remaining fixtures are favourable.
Upcoming games against Norwich, West Brom, Watford, Newcastle and Crystal Palace are comparatively booby-trap free for an obdurate team beaten only three times this season.
And the manner of their defeat by Arsenal should be also be a cause for optimism.
Flaky temperaments are a concern and Ranieri must alleviate the title tension on the training ground in the coming days, but Danny Simpson's daft sending-off only underlined Leicester's superlative strengths.
TENACITY
In the 40 minutes after the red card, the Foxes displayed extraordinary tenacity and defensive discipline to hold the desperate Gunners at bay.
Until Simpson's departure, Leicester's "sit back and surge" approach had been paying off handsomely, thanks in large part to their signing of the season.
Wes Morgan and Robert Huth were magnificent, as usual, taking turns to ping poor Olivier Giroud from one back pocket to another, but the work-rate of N'Golo Kante defied the eye.
His heat map resembled a nuclear attack, just a huge smudge of red and yellow across the turf.
The little Frenchman pecked at ankles with the persistence of a starving woodpecker and covered more blades of grass than a runaway lawnmower.
He not only won tackles to launch counter-offensives, he retrieved possession almost immediately after the counter-offensive broke down.
In the 39th minute, Kante clipped a cheeky curled effort towards the top corner, forcing Petr Cech to palm the strike around the post.
The shot was marginally less impressive than the build-up. Kante had started the move in the other half.
He's a snapping terrier blessed with the lung capacity of a Singapore Turf Club winner; a perfect midfield blend of speed, stamina and tenacity.
Leicester are blessed to have him.
No other EPL club currently have anything like him.
Not surprisingly, he set the Foxes on their way to their goal. Had Danny Welbeck not snatched a dramatic injury-time winner, Kante would've monopolised the headlines.
And his tireless running proved infectious.
At one point, Jamie Vardy harassed three defenders simultaneously, sprinting in little triangles to steal possession.
In the end, his efforts, like his teammates generally, went unrewarded.
But the intent was self-evident.
Blue jerseys were ripped off in disgust at the final whistle, but no white flags were waved.
It was a setback, not a surrender.
Leicester lost the battle, but are in no mood to lose the war.
Carragher: Leicester played like champions
Former Liverpool and England defender Jamie Carragher said Leicester City played like champions despite having their Premier League title aspirations dented by a last-gasp 2-1 defeat by Arsenal yesterday morning (Singapore time).
He told Sky Sports: "Forget the last-minute goal, Leicester played like champions there, I felt.
"The way they threw their bodies in front of everything, the way they defended.
"They did perform like champions and they've been very unfortunate."
Thierry Henry, meanwhile, said his former team did not look like title winners despite the win.
He told Sky Sports: "The ending was just like a great movie.
"Arsenal didn't do enough to win the game at the end of the day, I thought.
"They didn't looked like champions, but they won the important one."
- Wire Services.
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