Arsenal handed Leeds United their first home loss of the season with a gutsy 1-0 victory in a hectic match at Elland Road on Sunday to maintain their best ever Premier League start.
It was the first time in the history of the north London club that they have won nine of their first ten Premier League matches. Arsenal’s victory over Leeds was secured by a first-half goal by Bukayo Saka.
Saka opened the scoring for Arsenal against the run of play in the 35th minute by firing a shot over goalkeeper Illan Meslier’s head after latching onto Martin Odegaard’s through ball.
The outcome gave Arsenal 27 points after 10 games.
Saka told Sky Sports, “My heart is still beating, but I’m just so delighted to have earned three points.” “It was a very difficult game. Leeds performed admirably, particularly in the second half, and exerted a great deal of pressure on us.
“Huge momentum on our side, since we’ve won another game. “We need to keep this momentum going, and today we proved we can win regardless of the circumstances.”
In a match that was halted for 38 minutes shortly after kickoff due to a power outage at the stadium, Arsenal were under heavy pressure from a tenacious Leeds team who pressed relentlessly throughout the entire encounter and never allowed the visitors to relax.
Patrick Bamford put the ball in the back of the net one minute into the second half as the home crowd erupted, but the referee disallowed the goal due to the Englishman’s foul on Arsenal center back Gabriel.
When defender William Saliba touched the ball in the box, the VAR asked referee Chris Kavanagh for a second look before awarding a penalties. However, Bamford’s penalty shot drifted wide, giving Arsenal a big reprieve.
“I believe it would have altered the outcome. At 1-1, I believe we could have advanced the ball,” remarked Leeds head coach Jesse Marsch.
Gabriel was sent off by Kavanagh in additional time for kicking out at Bamford, but a VAR review revealed that the striker had shoved the defender to the ground first, and the referee overturned the penalty award.
Arsenal struggled to generate anything noteworthy in the second half, although goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale made four saves and even made a tackle to prevent Leeds from scoring.
“It was an outstanding performance by our team. Discipline and focus throughout the entire match, despite the late start,” Marsch said after the setback dropped Leeds to 15th in the table with nine points from nine games.
“A performance that demonstrated that we can be extremely good when we play the way we want to play. Currently, they are the top squad in the league, but we were better today.”