'Footballing gods were on Arsenal's side'

'Footballing gods were on Arsenal's side' - National verdict on Leeds United's Gunners defeat

Leeds United fell to another defeat on Sunday afternoon as Jesse Marsch's side lost 1-0 to Premier League leaders Arsenal at Elland Road.

The Whites put on a battling display but were unable to find a way back into the contest after Bukayo Saka's first-half strike. They did win a penalty which could have changed the game, but striker Patrick Bamford fired his spot kick wide.

The result means Leeds have now not won a game since August 21 when they beat Chelsea 3-0. While performances of late have not been disastrous, they are quickly finding themselves in need of getting points on the board.

Here's how the national media saw the Whites 1-0 defeat to Arsenal...

'Leeds were terrific'

Ian Ladyman of the Daily Mail wrote: "Arsenal used to go to pieces in environments like this and on this occasion they didn’t.

"Here at a febrile Elland Road there wasn’t an awful lot pretty about Arsenal but they won the game. We used to say the opposite.

"Still, though, we sympathise with Leeds. A game delayed from properly starting by almost 40 minutes because of a power cut that would have prevented access to VAR was ultimately decided by the technology. This was a contest of alluring unpredictability but we should have seen that one coming.

"First things first, Leeds were terrific. If they play with this energy and add to it a cutting edge, they will plot a steady enough course under Jesse Marsch this season.

"Leeds really missed a centre forward in the first half. There was no shape when they attacked. Even so they should not have been behind. That they were was their own fault."

'An exhilaratingly high-tempo, end-to-end contest'

Louise Taylor of the Guardian wrote: "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.

"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."

'A typically intense Leeds United'

Sam Dean of the Telegraph wrote: "Not even the finest teams of Arsene Wenger’s era were able to win nine of their opening 10 games of a league season and, while there is an awfully long way to go for Mikel Arteta’s class of 2022, this was another victory that suggested they might just be capable of challenging for a first title since the glory days of Highbury.

"The sense of gathering momentum was not related to Arsenal’s performance here, on a wild afternoon against a typically intense Leeds United. Indeed, for much of this game Arsenal were alarmingly devoid of ideas and energy. It was instead the defensive grit that stood out, and the unavoidable sense that the footballing gods were on their side.

"Arsenal were spirited and determined, but they were also enormously lucky. Lucky that Leeds spurned so many chances, including a second-half penalty, and lucky that the VAR technology had been rebooted after a bizarre power surge in the first minute of the match.

"For Jesse Marsch, the frustration of this afternoon will take some time to fade. Leeds have now gone six matches without a victory but their showing here, full of life and vigour, provided plenty of encouragement. No side this season has rattled Arsenal, the league leaders, as effectively and obviously as this."

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