Former Leicester City captain Wes Morgan has revealed that Arsenal’s wild celebrations after their defeat at the Emirates in February was the catalyst for their historic title win
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Leicester City players celebrate winning the Premier League
Former Leicester captain Wes Morgan has opened up on the Foxes’ historic Premier League title win – and revealed that his side were spurred on to pip Arsenal to the title by the Gunners’ wild dressing room celebrations after their late 2-1 reverse at the Emirates.
Morgan was the Leicester captain the year that they achieved one of the most remarkable feats in Premier League history.
With the Foxes flying high at the summit of the league, they fell to a gut-wrenching 2-1 defeat against Arsenal in February thanks to a late goal from Danny Welbeck – a result that threatened to derail Leicester’s unlikely title bid.
But Morgan revealed that Arsenal’s over-exuberant celebrations only ended up serving as the catalyst for Leicester to see the job through.
“Arsenal celebrated beating us like they’d just beat Barcelona… those videos affected us; they spurred us on to the title,” Morgan exclusively told Ladbrokes at the launch of the 5-A-Side Bet on Leicester v Newcastle.
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“If you’re asking me to pinpoint the moment where I truly believed we could win the Premier League, it would have to be after beating Manchester City 3-1 in their backyard. It was a fantastic performance from the team and it’s the first time I honestly believed we could do it.
“But immediately after that came the Arsenal game at the Emirates, where we took a loss late on. That was a big, big blow to our confidence and our belief; Danny Welbeck scored late on after we’d taken the lead in the first-half. Danny Simpson got sent off and things just went downhill late on.
“I remember us all sitting in the changing rooms afterwards thinking ‘what’s happened here?’ We were all upset, and no one was really talking to each other.
“But I remember being on the coach on the way home after the game… one of the boys got social media up on his phone and showed us videos of the Arsenal team celebrating in their changing room. You’d have honestly thought they’d won the league. We started looking at each other and saying “look at that; we’re little old Leicester, it’s our second season in the Premier League and they’re celebrating like they’ve just beaten Barcelona.
“Those pictures and videos affected us; if anything they made us more determined. Look back at the rest of the fixtures that season and you’ll see we didn’t lose another game after that. It was a key moment in the season. We looked at the negative and turned it into a positive. The run we went on after that defeat was incredible, and I think those images of Arsenal celebrating were in the back of all of our minds.”
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Morgan admitted that rebounding after that loss was vital for Leicester’s unlikely title hopes, with the Foxes going on an unbeaten run to see the season out after Welbeck’s late, late goal.
In a remarkable feat, Leicester didn’t lose consecutive league games all season as they marched to the title; defying their 5000/1 pre-season odds.
“If you look at that season as a whole, you’ll be able to point out so many key moments, but the biggest ones have always been how we responded after a loss. Bouncing back is so, so vital – especially when you’re fighting at the top of the table,” added Morgan.
“After the Arsenal match, we played Norwich back at home. We went into the game adamant we weren’t going to let the previous result impact our performance.
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“We were focused on putting on a performance we knew we were capable of, but sometimes the opposition makes it hard for you. It doesn’t always work out exactly how you plan, and in that game, I just remember us throwing absolutely everything at Norwich and we just couldn’t put the ball in the net. We couldn’t get through them for 89 minutes, and then Leonardo Ulloa delivers in the last minute and nicks the three points for us.
“You can see what that result meant to us as a unit in the celebrations after the game. Late winners like that are sometimes more special than winning five games in a row, just purely because of the circumstances.
“There were many key moments throughout that campaign, but that game would definitely be one I’d expect to see featuring in a movie about our story. As for who plays Ulloa, though, I don’t know who’s going to get that role. It would have to be some kind of South American character; my knowledge of those actors is pretty limited though!”
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