The sight of Arsenal devoting much of the second half to time-wasting wherever possible – and the sound of Mikel Arteta subsequently expressing delight at having “found a way to win” – spoke volumes.
No matter that Leeds’s winless run stretched to a sixth game, the Premier League leaders did not have things all their own way in West Yorkshire, where VAR provoked frustration and relief in almost equal measure.
A thrilling match dominated by technology and controversy was settled by Bukayo Saka’s artistic winner. With VAR science also central to the drama, Leeds’s Patrick Bamford saw a goal disallowed and missed a penalty while Arsenal’s Gabriel had a late red card overturned following a clash with Bamford.
The briefest of power cuts at Elland Road coincided with the scheduled 2pm kick‑off, prompting mayhem. With 23 seconds gone, play was halted and the teams were taken off the pitch after it emerged that the referee, Chris Kavanagh, and his officials had lost their VAR feeds from Stockley Park, while goalline technology was similarly non‑functioning. A flickering on and off of the lights triggered repercussions, with the match not restarting for another 39 minutes. Happily it was worth the wait.
Arsenal swiftly had reason for relief when, straight from the resumption, Luis Sinisterra’s shot swerved inches wide of an upright. Presumably heeding this warning, Arteta’s side began to rediscover their familiar pass/move groove and Rasmus Kristensen made an important block to prevent Gabriel Martinelli connecting with a volleyed opening.
Jesse Marsch’s Leeds are not easily daunted, though, and their willingness to press their opponents high up the pitch on the counter‑attack interrupted Arsenal’s flow and created an exhilaratingly high-tempo, end-to-end contest.
While Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsdale did well to palm another Sinisterra shot to safety before denying Pascal Struijk at point-blank range, Illan Meslier could not exactly rest easy. If Marsch’s French goalkeeper felt reprieved after Saka met Martin Ødegaard’s backheel and sent a two‑yard chip arcing over the bar, it proved a temporary stay of execution.
With Ødegaard again the creator, Sako evaded Meslier’s reach with a fabulous shot lashed into the roof of the net from the most awkward of right-sided angles.
If that finish represented a definition of technical accomplishment, the slapdash cross‑field pass from Rodrigo that handed Arsenal possession was the epitome of carelessness from a forward who so often reads the game brilliantly.
Talented as he is, Rodrigo is no central striker and his limitations in that role showed throughout the first period. Small wonder loud cheers greeted the sight of Bamford emerging from the bench to warm up as half‑time beckoned. Bamford has struggled with injuries of late but Leeds were in desperate need of his incision and defender‑destabilising movement and, sure enough, he replaced Rodrigo after the break and made an instant impact.
Indeed, with his first significant touch, he swivelled smartly, chested the ball down and sent a low volley flying beyond Ramsdale. Unfortunately for Leeds, in the process he had nudged Gabriel out of the way with a little too much vigour and that push on the Arsenal defender meant the goal was disallowed.
Bamford got a second chance from the penalty spot but missed, shooting wide after the kick was delayed by a bout of argy-bargy between opposing players following a VAR review that confirmed William Saliba, who struggled all afternoon, had handled in the area.
As Bamford walked towards the box, Gabriel accompanied him, evidently having a few, unsettling, words in his ear. It was such a blatant attempt to put the Leeds No 9 off that indignant teammates protested and soon Kavanagh needed to separate warring opponents. When Bamford’s slightly overhit kick curved just outside the upright Marsch’s head sunk into his hands and Arsenal players queued up to shake Gabriel’s hand.
By now Leeds were at full throttle, winning all sorts of individual duels right across the pitch. But they remained behind and, with Arteta’s players taking every opportunity to wind the clock down, it stayed that way. Not that there was a lack of incident along the way, with the biggest involving Bamford and Gabriel. When the former shoved the Brazilian over in the box, the defender responded with a retaliatory kick delivered from the floor, prefacing his adversary’s dramatic collapse.
Kavanagh awarded a penalty and issued a red card but VAR overturned both, downgrading the defender’spunishment to a yellow. That was arguably generous but neither Gabriel nor Arsenal complained.
