Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette has hailed the supporters of Leeds United following their 4-1 victory at Elland Road last month.
The Gunners dismantled a severely depleted Leeds side by scoring three unanswered first half goals thanks to Gabriel Martinelli’s double and Bukayo Saka.
Leeds did pull one back courtesy of Raphinha’s penalty, however Emile Smith Rowe put the icing on the cake for Arsenal as he added a late fourth.
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But while the score-line shows a heavy defeat for the Whites, it does not tell the full story of the game.
Marcelo Bielsa had just nine first team players available at his disposal, and one of those, Jack Harrison, limped off in the first half due to injury.
Joe Gelhardt and Cody Drameh earned just their second and first Premier League starts respectively, as Patrick Bamford, Kalvin Phillips, Liam Cooper, Pascal Struijk, Diego Llorente, Junior Firpo, Rodrigo Moreno, Daniel James, Jamie Shackleton and Charlie Cresswell were all missing.
In recognition of what their team was up against, Leeds supporters refused to get on the backs of the players, as they showed their support right until the end despite the nature of the defeat.
And in an interview with Arsenal.com, Lacazette singled out the support of Leeds as a crowd he has enjoyed playing in front of, in what was his first taste of a sold out Elland Road.
He said: “I love the atmosphere in English games because you know the fans will be loud until the end, whatever the score is.
“Look at the Leeds game for example. They supported their team and sang until the end. That’s similar in France as well though. Mostly they get behind their team even if they are down, and that’s the football I like.”
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