Gabriel Jesus marked his first top-flight start since November with a brace as Arsenal restored their eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League table with a 4-1 win over Leeds United.
Needing to respond after Manchester City’s identical success over Liverpool at lunchtime, the Gunners were not at the races early doors but got to half time with a 1-0 lead thanks to Jesus’s penalty.
The visitors’ hard work was soon undone in the second half, though, as Jesus completed his brace alongside strikes from Granit Xhaka and Ben White, with Rasmus Kristensen’s effort for Leeds nothing more than a consolation.
Attempting to emulate Bournemouth’s 11-second Emirates goal, Leeds exploded out of the blocks at the Emirates, and Kristensen forced Aaron Ramsdale into a strong save with less than a minute on the clock.
Barring one gilt-edged chance for Jesus – whose header over from Xhaka’s cross in the 11th minute – there was little to write home about for a disjointed Arsenal early doors, as Leeds defended resolutely to frustrate the hosts.
Javi Gracia would have been the far happier of the two managers after the first 20 minutes, with the absence of Bukayo Saka from the first XI evidently minimising Arsenal’s threat down the right.
Ramsdale was the busier goalkeeper in the first half and was alert to deny Crysencio Summerville and Jack Harrison in quick succession on the half-hour mark, but barely a minute later, Arsenal were awarded a penalty against the run of play.
The twinkle toes of Jesus proved too hot for the Leeds defence to handle, and Luke Ayling caught the Brazilian on the knee – Jesus stepped up to coolly slot home down the middle and snap a 14-game goalless streak stretching back to October 1.
From being under the cosh to looking the more likely to score again, Arsenal got to half time one goal to the good and doubled their lead exactly 100 seconds after the restart, as Gabriel Martinelli got the better of Ayling on the left and crossed for White to crash home off the crossbar from a yard out.
Completely unrecognisable to the team that started the game, Mikel Arteta’s side made it three in the 55th minute thanks to another assist from the fleet-footed Leandro Trossard, who held the ball up on the right-hand side of the box and cut back for the onrushing Jesus to fire home his second of the afternoon.
The Gunners had seemingly come through a troubling game unscathed, but their defensive deficiencies at home came to the fore in the 75th minute, as Kristensen scored for the second gameweek running with a deflected strike off Oleksandr Zinchenko from the edge of the box.
However, just as they did after conceding to Crystal Palace two weekends ago, Arsenal responded with a fourth goal, as Martin Odegaard fizzed a ball into the box for Xhaka to head home with Meslier rooted to the spot.
Having played a game more than Man City, Arsenal retain their unassailable lead in first place ahead of next Sunday’s trip to Liverpool, while Leeds have dropped to 17th and host Nottingham Forest next up on Tuesday.
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