LONDON: After 10 months out injured, Danny Welbeck took barely 10 minutes on his return from surgery to score a precious goal for Arsenal.

Welbeck came off the bench on Sunday to earn Arsenal the most dramatic of last-gasp comeback wins over Premier League leaders Leicester City at an ecstatic Emirates Stadium with his 95th-minute winner.

The England striker, sidelined since last April with knee injuries, could not have dreamed of a more extraordinary return, his glancing header from Mesut Ozil’s free kick deep into injury time earning them the 2-1 victory which narrows Leicester’s lead at the top to just two points.

“It has been a bit of a rollercoaster for me, missing a lot of football ... it was difficult,” Welbeck said. “To get that winning goal is a beautiful feeling.”

It was a triumph which had looked hugely unlikely after Jamie Vardy had put Leicester ahead from the penalty spot just before halftime, a 19th goal of the season for the league’s leading marksman.

Yet the whole complexion of the game changed after the break when Leicester were forced to play the last 35 minutes with just 10 men after Danny Simpson had received two yellow cards for rash challenges in the space of five minutes.

After 15 minutes of incessant pressure, another substitute Theo Walcott almost inevitably smashed in the equaliser but Leicester still looked ready to celebrate a victory of sorts after they held out stoically and Arsenal wasted a series of chances until deep into injury time.

Then, after earning a free kick in Leicester’s half, Ozil, the league’s leading provider of goals, created havoc in the Leicester rearguard with a lovely floated free kick which saw Welbeck, who had been introduced with just over five minutes left, leap highest to provide the finest of touches.

With 12 matches of the season remaining, Leicester remain on 53 points.

Arsenal, resurrecting their title challenge, moved to 51 points and also gave hope to Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, five and six points off the pace respectively, ahead of their meeting at the Etihad Stadium later in the day.

Like Welbeck, another striker celebrated a dream return on Sunday as Liverpool ran riot in a 6-0 hammering of Aston Villa at Villa Park.

STURRIDGE INSPIRES VILLA ROUT

Daniel Sturridge returned to the visitors’ starting line-up after injury with a 16th-minute opener that set Liverpool on course for a crushing victory.

James Milner’s curling free kick from the left wing eluded everyone and bounced into the far corner in the 25th.

Emre Can, Divock Origi, Nathaniel Clyne and Kolo Toure scored in quick succession from the 58th minute in another embarrassing result for Villa, who are eight points from safety.

Liverpool climbed to eighth place, three points behind fifth-placed Manchester United whose manager Louis van Gaal cast doubt on his team’s chances of qualifying for next season’s Champions League after a 2-1 loss at relegation-threatened Sunderland on Saturday.

The loss left United six points behind fourth-placed Manchester City, having played one more game.

Sunderland remain second from bottom but with the Newcastle United, Swansea City and Bournemouth losing and Norwich City surrendering a two-goal lead against West Ham United on Saturday, their hopes of avoiding relegation rose as they are now only one point away from the safety zone.

Newcastle were thumped 5-1 at Chelsea in Saturday’s late kickoff as the champions produced their best performance of a poor league season to extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to 12 since Guus Hiddink replaced sacked Jose Mourinho.

Pedro scored twice for Chelsea, while Diego Costa, Willian and Bertrand Traore also punished a wide-open Newcastle defence to leave the north east club back in the bottom three on goal difference below Norwich who drew 2-2 with West Ham United.

West Ham could have moved above Manchester United into fifth spot with a win but dropped to seventh, below Southampton after they beat Swansea 1-0 in south Wales.

West Bromwich Albion eased their relegation fears, winning 1-0 at mid-table Everton, but Bournemouth’s 3-1 home defeat by Stoke City left the south coast club in 15th place and four points above third-from-bottom Newcastle United.

Emmanuel Adebayor scored his first goal since joining Crystal Palace but could not prevent a sixth defeat in seven matches for Alan Pardew’s side who lost 2-1 at home to Watford.

Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2016