Arsenal managed to win over Leeds United in a decisive clash in the Premier League at the Emirates Stadium. The game started perfectly for the gunners, who were in front just six minutes after Eddie Nketiah pounced on Ilan Meslier to score.
Nketia then doubled Arsenal’s lead a few minutes later after a good job on the left wing by Gabriel Martinelli to find him in the center. Then things got even better for Mikel Arteta’s men, who proved to be a man ahead, as well as two goals ahead when VAR intervened to ensure that Luke Isling was fired for a pointless strike against Martinelli.
Diego Llorente then managed to return one for Leeds in the second, when the Gunners took a corner for the first time this season, which led to a tense final, but in the end Arteta’s team kept three points. The victory means that Arsenal already have a four-point lead over Tottenham in the race for the first four in the decisive derby in North London on Thursday night at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Here футбол.лондон takes a look back at some of the moments you may have missed from the game.
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There is no signal for Nketia
It was a great afternoon for Eddie Nketia, who now has more Premier League goals in an open game than Alexandre Lacazette this season, although he has only started five games. The England Under-21 striker dropped the ball with an appropriate poaching finish after pressing Leeds’ Ilan Meslier in error. Encourage the festivities, right?
Well, not exactly … Nketia faced his former club at Leeds United, where he spent half a season on loan two years ago, before being pulled out by Mikel Arteta just weeks after the Spaniard was appointed Arsenal manager.
He decided not to celebrate any of his goals, which means we couldn’t see the celebration of his trademark phone call. Hale Ender couldn’t stop his smile from spreading across his face as he shot Arsenal closer to the four.
Arteta evaporates with Odegaard
Mikel Arteta is obviously a man of very high standards. The Spaniard was crucial to securing a cultural turnaround in the Emirates and turned Arsenal from a bottom of the league into a league after three games to one that is on track to finish in the top four, but generally misses any opportunity to accept any praise, insisting that his country “has not done anything yet”.
This attitude was fully demonstrated during Leeds’ brief counterattack at the end of the first half. Arsenal scored two goals and a man ahead, but Arteta was not in the mood to miss anything.
Noticing that Martin Odegaard was not chasing back with the intensity he wanted, the Spaniard fiercely waved his fist at Norway’s request to sprint instead of work. Odegaard committed and won the ball back to protect the Gunners from any chance of a unlikely return to Leeds.
Jaka is angry with Klich
Although it was a very convenient victory for Arsenal, it was quite a sad affair. Leeds seem to have lost their heads early, which shows the ridiculous red card challenge of Luke Isling against Gabriel Martinelli.
Gabriel also received an unnecessary yellow card for a late midfield strike, but the Brazilian had to become a peacemaker soon. While dribbling in the midfield, Granit Jaka was caught late by Mateusz Klich, which provoked an angry reaction from the Swiss midfielder.
He threw away a hand that fortunately did not connect to trigger a red card, and when the Polish Leeds midfielder began to move away, Xhaka could be seen shouting “Klich, Klich” while abstaining from Gabriel. Leeds were volatile all the time, but Arsenal did well to keep their heads in the second half.
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