A huge turn in the title race took place on Sunday as Arsenal scored a last second winner against table-topping Leicester City.

Jamie Vardy’s first half penalty was made up for by a Danny Simpson red card and Theo Walcott strike after the break, before the long-awaited return of Danny Welbeck brought the winner.

With Per Mertesacker and Francis Coquelin in the starting eleven, Arsenal started quickly against the Foxes on Sunday afternoon.

An Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain cross and an Alexis Sánchez header underlined the Gunners’ intent early on, but Leicester soon settled and the game became tighter. Jamie Vardy rose high to force Petr Čech into the first big save of the match, keeping the score level.

As the half progressed, it was a story of offside calls and penalty appeals. Shinji Okazaki and Mesut Özil both went through on goal and were wrongly flagged offside before failing to convert. The ball did find the back of the net after Olivier Giroud flicked on a sumptuous Mesut Özil delivery, but the flag was correctly raised.

Barely blowing his whistle all half, Martin Atkinson stole the show late on. A foul inexplicably wasn’t given after Wes Morgan jumped through Mesut Özil, sparking a counter-attack for the visitors. Jamie Vardy bought a foul from Nacho Monreal and stepped up to open the scoring from the penalty spot. Season over?

A half-time sub saw Calum Chambers replace Laurent Koscielny, who had a dead leg.

A glimmer of light came eight minutes into the half, with Danny Simpson foolish enough to be booked twice within the space of a couple of minutes. Shown a second yellow for pulling back Olivier Giroud, the game was back on. Theo Walcott replaced Francis Coquelin, meaning Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain dropped into midfield and it became a case of defence versus attack.

Arsenal struggled for a while, under huge pressure and forcing the play. But on the 70th minute, Theo Walcott struck. A cross from Héctor Bellerín found Giroud, who superbly nodded the ball into the path of Walcott. In a poor run of form but always reliable in big games, Walcott tucked away one of his biggest goals yet and gave Arsenal 20 minutes to find a winner.

Searching for the winner, Arsène Wenger sent on Danny Welbeck after 10 months out. Per Mertesacker and Welbeck both had what were not even a half chances go just wide and straight at Schmeichel within the final five minutes. Schmeichel came up with an unbelievable save to deny Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey struck wide after Monreal smartly picked him out.

The last moment of stoppage time. Mesut Özil free-kick. Danny Welbeck. 2-1.

It’s back on.