"Champions League, you’re having a laugh!"
That was the song that rang around the King Power Stadium soon after Youri Tielemans had nodded in James Maddison’s cross to score the goal that surely ended Arsenal’s top four hopes for another season.
And the 3,000 Arsenal supporters in the ground just had to sit there and take it, knowing what was coming their way from the Leicester fans couldn’t really be disputed - not on this evidence anyway.
Just a matter of weeks ago Unai Emery’s side were looking good for third, now - after four defeats in five - they are staring sixth place right in the face.
For 85 minutes, this wasn’t quite as bad as on Wednesday night when they were thumped at Wolves - and it must be said that the visitors did have to play the last hour with 10 men after Ainsley Maitland-Niles was harshly sent off.
But it was still another performance away from home that leaves you scratching your head about the mental state of this Arsenal side.
You would have thought, given what was at stake, that they would have been the team looking to take the game by the scruff off the neck, but instead it was Leicester who dominated from the start.
At one stage in the first half some match stats flashed up on the scoreboard which showed the home side had enjoyed 82 per cent of possession.
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It drew gasps from all around the stadium, but in truth it was no surprise. Leicester were dominant - and that’s the way it stayed for much of the match.
The only real surprise was that Arsenal held on for as long as they did. It took Leicester 59 minutes to make the breakthrough, with Bernd Leno having to be at his brilliant best to keep the score down.
But as soon as Tielemans broke Arsenal’s resistance, the result was never in doubt. Jamie Vardy’s late double put the gloss on a 3-0 scoreline that was entirely justified.
Emery’s side did waste two glorious chances before the interval, through Alexandre Lacazette and Alex Iwobi, but the visitors can have no complaints about the result - although they could over Maitland-Niles’ red card.
It came for two bookings, the first of which was incredibly harsh, but Arsenal had been comfortably second best even before they had been reduced to 10 men.
There is still a chance of a top-four finish, but it would require others above them to slip up and for Emery’s side to take maximum points from their final two games - something that seems unlikely considering the final match against Burnley is away from home.
So it’s Europa League or bust now for the Gunners in terms of their Champions League hopes for next season, with the first leg of their semi-final coming up on Thursday night when Valencia visit the Emirates.
Given where they were after beating Newcastle at the start of April, it has been a pretty damning collapse - one that says a lot about the fragile mental state of this Arsenal side.
They must now somehow raise themselves to go again against Valencia, who find themselves in a similar scenario regarding Champions League qualification following their La Liga defeat to Eibar earlier on Sunday.
But it’s going to be incredibly difficult for Arsenal to pick themselves up following what has been a truly disastrous week for the north London club.
Three defeats, nine goals conceded (the first time since 1967 Arsenal have lost three on the bounce by conceding three goals) and just three scored. They have pressed the self-destruct button at the worst possible time and now go into the games with Valencia under huge pressure.
Get those wrong and what was shaping up to be a good first season for Emery will end up looking pretty average.
