Arsenal were reduced to 10 men as they failed to exert early pressure on a crucial day in the race for a top-four finish by slumping to an abysmal 3-0 defeat at Leicester City - their third Premier League loss in a row and fourth in six matches.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles was dismissed after just 36 minutes of Sunday's lunchtime kick-off in the East Midlands - which came hours before rivals Manchester United battle Chelsea at Old Trafford - after being awarded a second yellow card for a foul on James Maddison.
The Gunners, beaten by both Crystal Palace and Wolves during the last seven days, were firmly second-best even before ceding the numerical advantage to Brendan Rodgers' energetic side, who found Bernd Leno in excellent form.
The German goalkeeper made several strong stops to deny the likes of Jamie Vardy, Ricardo Pereira and Maddison, though stood no chance shortly before the hour mark as an inch-perfect cross from the latter was met with a thumping header from Youri Tielemans that flew into the back of the net.
The Monaco loanee nearly doubled his tally with a bending 20-yard strike that whistled past the far post, before the hosts made absolutely sure of a win that took them above Watford and Everton into eighth spot four minutes from time in rather unconventional style.
A long kick from Kasper Schmeichel dissected the sleeping Arsenal centre-backs and provided a glaring opportunity for Vardy, who initially hit the crossbar with a deft lob over Leno before heading home the rebound.
Substitute Harvey Barnes came close to compounding another sorry Arsenal away day with a quick stoppage-time break before Vardy did make it three in the dying seconds after being teed up by Ricardo's squared pass.
Arsenal, who have shipped nine goals in total during three disastrous losses, could have moved into fourth and one point shy of Tottenham with a victory, but instead remain fifth and could even end the day in sixth if United are victorious later in the afternoon.
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Leicester vs Arsenal line-ups
Leicester XI: Schmeichel, Ricardo Pereira, Evans, Maguire, Chilwell, Choudhury, Albrighton, Tielemans, Ndidi, Maddison, Vardy
Subs: Soyuncu, Gray, Iheanacho, Ward, Barnes, Mendy, Fuchs
Arsenal XI: Leno, Maitland-Niles, Mustafi, Papastathopoulos, Kolasinac, Mkhitaryan, Torreira, Xhaka, Iwobi, Aubameyang, Lacazette
Subs: Cech, Elneny, Koscielny, Mavropanos, Guendouzi, Nketiah, Willock
Referee: Michael Oliver
