Arsenal’s title defence might soon be spared some jeopardy by events elsewhere, but the Premier League is no place for those who would rather jog to the line than sprint. It’s a message that won’t be lost on Mikel Arteta, even in victory.
For this was an ugly, unconvincing win and the kind that owed more to the tired legs of Leeds than the quality of the team that eventually beat them.
Of course, we could make a virtue of the fighting spirit needed to retrieve a 1-0 deficit. But the truth is Arsenal were so far off the pace for long periods that it would sound a louder alarm if Manchester City weren’t facing the possibility of a massive points sanction.
An overreaction? Perhaps. But the first half against Leeds was dire. Not quite so bad as the performance against Brighton prior to the international break, but worse in the ways that they shrank from the physical battle. Worse in how willing they were to go with the flow. Worse in the means with which they then fell behind to James Justin’s goal early in the second half.
Pinpointing that moment, we could see Declan Rice is yet to return to full sharpness, despite being rested by Thomas Tuchel across the past fortnight. We can never accuse Rice of not trying, but he was easily outrun in the key phase of the attack, before Noni Madueke allowed the strike by not chasing down Justin at all.
It was a dismal goal to concede and it was almost followed by a second that would have made a real drama of this match. Arsenal survived those attempts, however, and relocated enough class to capitalise when the effort finally told on Daniel Farke’s resources.
Bruno Guimaraes came off the bench to score a crucial winner as Arsenal defeated Leeds 2-1
James Justin fired the visitors ahead in the 55th minute, threatening an upset at the Emirates
Riccardo Calafiori continued his fine form scoring Arsenal’s equaliser just after the hour mark
The leveller was converted by Riccardo Calafiori, whose gifts continue to show in all areas of the pitch, and the winner soon followed from Bruno Guimaraes, whose £75million signing has been slow to justify itself. After an inauspicious beginning at the club, and having delivered an outright stinker against Brighton, his fine strike might serve as a launchpad.
For Arteta, there was doubtless some relief around the outcome and the return from injury for key personnel after a few uncertainties arose in the international break.
Christos Tzolis was unavailable with a muscular injury sustained with Greece but Kai Havertz and Ezri Konsa were passed fit, as was Rice after sitting out England duty.
Of those coming in, Havertz’s inclusion despite the niggles of a hamstring issue was interesting, primarily, for what it told us about Viktor Gyokeres’s status. Having scored four in four for Sweden across the past fortnight, the expectation was that he might find himself back in Arteta’s favour, so a place among the substitutes for the first hour was jarring.
Ordinarily, Arteta’s wisdom wouldn’t be questioned with any great enthusiasm and there are few volunteers willing to mount an argument for Gyokeres. But the first half here offered little vindication for Arteta – his attack was predictable and ineffective.
Madueke had a couple of moments of joy in his duel with Jayden Bogle, yielding one cross and a saved header from Havertz, but the rest of the unit were forgettable.
Bukayo Saka unpacked his sack of feints and flicks at Gabriel Gudmundsson and got nowhere. Martin Odegaard got stuck in the traffic of Leeds’s midfield. Havertz was too often isolated.
None of which happened by accident, of course. Daniel Farke has built his success this season on an excellent defence and a reliable goalkeeper in James Trafford, but there is also the benefit of calling on big men. If Brighton set a blueprint prior to the break by pressing /and hassling Arsenal out of their patterns, then Leeds showed the advantage of old-fashioned strength in the challenges. Usually, Arteta’s side can hold their own in that regard but here they found themselves being pushed around.
Occasionally, that went to ugly places – namely, Ao Tanaka and Ethan Ampadu’s bookings for clattering Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ben White.
But it is equally true that Leeds forced the best chances of the opening 45 minutes, especially those for Gudmundsson and Bogle, who both forced decent saves from David Raya. By turns, Arsenal were struggling to find the right answer to Farke’s wing backs, but they were also unable to track the clever movements of Dominic Calvert-Lewin at the tip of the spear.
Eventually, the package shaped into a Leeds breakthrough early in the second half, when Gudmundsson was able to easily outrun Rice in a race to the left-hand byline before rolling low to Justin, who had set off on his own mission up the right. Madueke had eyes on the threat but didn’t bother to pursue Justin. Poor.
It was a pivotal win for Mikel Arteta’s side, who were beaten 3-0 by Brighton before the break
Leeds United suffered their first defeat of the season after an excellent start to the campaign
It might have got worse for Arteta, with his defence thrown into chaos by a long ball before Noah Okafor fell a fraction short of reaching Bogle’s cross. At 2-0, Arsenal might have been lost, but Calafiori’s equaliser reset the scale. The move, involving Odegaard, Madueke and White, was their first coherent attack in the space of an hour.
Arteta took that moment to make a decisive change, with Havertz, White and Lewis-Skelly hooked and Guimaraes among those sent in. It had the effect of pushing Rice further forward and the recalibration paid off quickly, shown by the goal for 2-1 when Saka, Odegaard and Rice were all part of the chain that opened a path for Guimaraes to stroke a low finish past Trafford from the edge of the area.
Rice’s contribution – a flicked assist – was a sublime reminder of his class even on a day when he looked lethargic. The same might be said of Arsenal as a whole.
