Result: Arsenal 4-2 Leeds
Competition: Premier League
Date: 14 February 2021
Venue: Emirates Stadium
Arsenal: Leno, Bellerin, Luiz, Gabriel, Cedric, Xhaka, Ceballos, Odegaard, Saka, Smith Rowe, Aubameyang
Subs: Ryan, Chambers, Holding, Mari, Elneny, Willian, Pepe, Martinelli, Lacazette
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored his first Premier League hat-trick as Arsenal overcame a dogged Leeds United 4-2 at the Emirates.
Hector Bellerin’s stoppage time goal after Aubameyang had hit a brace, including one from the spot, ensured the Gunners had a healthy three-goal advantage at the break. The game looked dead and buried when Aubameyang headed home from close range two minutes after the restart but Marcelo Bielsa’s stepped up the pressure and twice reduced the deficit through Pascal Struijk’s header and Helder Costa’s smart finish.
Both sides had opportunities to net further goals in the closing stages of an entertaining encounter but it was Mikel Arteta’s side who took the three points to climb above Leeds in the table.
Pre-game
Mikel Arteta made five changes from the side that started against Aston Villa. Martin Odegaard was handed his first start at the expense of Nicolas Pepe. The Norwegian took up the number 10 role with Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe flanking Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was preferred up top over Alex Lacazette. In midfield, Dani Ceballos replaced the injured Thomas Partey and at the back David Luiz, back from suspension, partnered compatriot Gabriel meaning Rob Holding dropped to the bench. Bernd Leno, also returning after his red card at Wolves, started ahead of Mat Ryan.
First Half
Having been unlucky to lose the last two games, we knew there was no margin for error against Leeds and started like we meant business. Smith Rowe, Odegaard, Ceballos and Saka were eager to support Aubameyang and we worked intricate triangles all over the pitch with quick and precise passing. It had the whiff of an Arsene Wenger side.
Smith Rowe and Bellerin both went over inside the opening four minutes and Cedric was worked into a dangerous area only for a heavy touch to let him down. Aside from a Bamford header, which Leno saved easily at his near post, we kept the visitors very quiet.
One of the big criticisms this season has been our failure to score when dominating games, but on this occasion, we did just that. Aubameyang, despite playing centrally, popped up on the left to collect a Xhaka pass and immediately you could tell he wanted to try his luck. Usually, he goes for the curler, but on this occasion, after a couple of stepovers forced Ayling back, he squeezed an effort inside Meslier’s near post. The captain enjoyed that one. (1-0)
Leeds tried to come back into things, Raphinha set up Klich and Harrison but we looked relatively comfortable at the back. David Luiz even looked menacing pushing up the pitch. On 28 minutes he teed up Aubameyang after a one-two with Saka and only a fine block by Ayling denied Aubameyang his second.
We continued to knock at the door. Saka and Odegaard exchanged passes on the touchline before the winger burst into the box teasing Liam Cooper to make a challenge. The Leeds defender stuck out a leg and leaned into our man who hit the turf. Referee Stuart Attwell was quick to point to the spot, however, Andre Marriner on VAR duty suggested he take a second look via the pitchside monitor. After a couple of replays, he overturned his own decision. Mikel Arteta was not impressed.
Thankfully it didn’t matter, five minutes late Saka went down in the box a second time and this time there was no doubt over the award of the penalty. The 19-year-old had his ankles clipped by keeper Meslier who’d panicked after having a back pass stolen off him. Aubameyang stepped up and put the ball to the right of the keeper. (2-0)
On the stroke of half time, Bellerin added a gloss to proceedings finishing a fine team move that included a brilliant jinking run by Saka and some neat passing in the box involving Odegaard and Ceballos who played in the right-back to lash home inside the near post. It was a fantastic goal to round off a great 45 minutes. (3-0)
Second half
It only took two minutes to further extend our lead. Smith Rowe showed great determination to get into the box and with a sliced shot picked out Aubameyang who headed home at the back post to complete his first Premier League hat-trick as a Gunner. (4-0)
With a four-goal lead, we got sloppy. Leno had to make a flying save to deny Raphinha on 49 minutes. The German was not impressed by his defence backing off the Brazilian. He was given more reason to be furious moments later when substitute Pascal Struijk climbed high at the near post to crash home a header to reduce the deficit (4-1).
Meslier denied Odegaard before the Norwegian was flagged offside before Arteta made his first change of the afternoon replacing Smith Rowe with Willian.
Raphinha continued to raise pulses in the Arsenal defence. The Brazilian pounced on a loose Ceballos pass on the edge of the area but scuffed wide. You could see the concern on Arteta’s face as the visitors continued to build in confidence. A second goal for the visitors on 68 minutes really furrowed his brow. Roberts stole behind Bellerin and picked out Helder Costa who opened his body to fire past Leno first time. (4-2)
The final 15 minutes were manic. Bamford went down in the box calling for a penalty after Cedric and Gabriel sandwiched him. The referee waved play on and Aubameyang promptly hit the woodwork at the other end.
Arteta tried to calm things down replacing Odegaard, who’d done well, with Elneny. It didn’t work. Attack seemed the best form of defence and again we hit the woodwork before Saka was retrospectively flagged offside. There was still time for Luiz to deny Bamford with a last-ditch tackle and Cedric to force Meslier into a flying save with a swerving shot from distance.
some thoughts: 1. It was really great to watch us truly batter a team for a while, but we need to stop making things nervy in the end, no more complacency. 2. Bukayo saka is truly, truly special. I think maybe the most exciting talent Arsenal have had in the last decade. He is sublime. 3. So good to see auba not just scoring, but fully confident and having fun. Missed you lad. 4. Bellerin, congrats on your goal but mate you’ve got to stop losing focus so often, lost his man multiple times. We desperately needed a win, and… Read more »
Mikel Arteta (and the squad) have proven on occasion that they really do know how to play some phenomenal football, now we need to figure out how to do it every week.
Or for 90 minutes…
I think as a team we need to be fully on it for the full 90 minutes. It was clear that we were getting complacent at 4-0, and that turned into 4-2 pretty quickly. No need to create that situation. A game is 90 minutes long, you’ve got to be siwtched on the whole time.
Leeds just could not stop fouling Saka.
Seems like a recurring weekly theme. It’s really telling–it’s the only way most teams think they can stop him. I worry for his health but I also feel like it might be creating a bit of a chip on his shoulder. He’s seemed even more driven lately and playing with maybe a bit of anger (properly channeled).
I know Bellerin scored, but his decision making in attack is so random. He was in such good positions in attack and then just hits it across more in hope than anything else. Excellent attacking performance and great to have Auba scoring again. Cannot believe Willian was brought on, he shouldn’t even be on the bench against Benfica.
He will be and will keep be used as sub until fans are back and then it will turn nasty.
i’m surprised i haven’t seen it mentioned that in the build up to the second penalty we lost the ball in our own half and saka ran the length of the pitch to eventually close down meslier.
bukayo is going to be a mainstay top quality player for years to come.
2nd goal was poor to concede Bellerin happy for him but I think if we get an offer for him he should be moved on. He doesn’t offer enough going forward for his lapse concentration at the back and inability to do basic defending to be worth it. Also LENO needs to improve his game time management. Every time he gathers the ball he’s trying to start a counter attack. AT 4-1 up he gathers the ball and instead taking his time and easing pressure on the team he throws the ball out immediately while half of Leeds team where… Read more »
Maybe, just maybe. LENO, or Leno as I prefer to call him, is being instructed to look for rapid counter attacking opportunities when he gathers the ball – mind blowing I know.
Im convinced that the reason why our season has been this poor is solely because of Willian (and Arteta continuing to play him). He cant receive a long pass, hes constantly in the wrong position, he cant get past anyone, he cant pass the ball forward, he seems very uninterested. Simply put he is shit, and makes everyone around him worse. And why Arteta keeps playing? No one knows, but it personally has made me lose a lot of respect for Arteta. It is one of the few times where a player actually deserves all the slack he gets. Theres… Read more »
yup, if arteta is sacked i wont regret much because he was to naive to acknowledge his willian mistake.
I find it astonishing that Willian gets more time on that left side than Gabriel!
I find it astonishing that there is so much talk about Willian when we a few things we could be talking about are: Arsenal played a brilliant half, Aubameyang scored a hat-trick including an unstoppable penalty kick, Odergaard and Smith Rowe both showed their quality and, you know, Saka. Even the negative aspect of the match, that Leeds scored two and made it nervous, had nothing to do with Willian. Can no one enjoy a great match that we won with quality and, in the final analysis and despite our nervousness, quite easily?
It’s not just that Willian came on and did nothing, it’s that he’s taking valuable minutes off Pepe and Martinelli. With Leeds pressing up, their pace in behind would have worked wonders tonight. Poor substitution again.
William is playing like crap but given the tight schedule and players getting crocked left and right it’s better to give Willian some mins in a game that’s basically won.
That last bit u commented about arteta is poor and especially stupid considering it’s on an article describing how we smashed a very good Leeds side. Very Willian of u.
The game was precarious and putting willian showed blindness to what he brings. We should be stretching the opposition. Wenger did this in his second decade and we had some hairy games. I don’t think the guy should be getting mins in any game at the moment
I think he brought him on because he is disciplined and secure in possession, if nothing else.
Willian lost possession with 5 of his first 10 touches today
I am pretty sure it’s arteta tactic to make us familiar playing 10 men by bringing on willian.
Arteta sees something that Willian brings to the team, that nobody else sees
I don’t think that he does. I just think he’s trying to get something out of him by giving him chances again and again as we pay him loads of money. If we don’t play him at all the money is completely wasted and we have zero chance of selling him on in the summer. We just would pay him around 200.000 per week for nothing. For 2 1/2 more years. Not sure how that would benefit us. Think it makes sense to give him chances and hope it clicks somehow. If he’s not in his plans for next season… Read more »
He ain’t going nowhere
Why-llian?
Bringing willian on is like playing 10 v 12
Great performance from the team, very creative, particularly for 57 minutes, shows that they have it in them. Top half of the table! Saka is amazing, Auba first hat-trick in the PL, we played well until we brought Willian on. Surely Martinelli would have been a better option (or Pepe or anyone)? Tough matches coming up this month in the EL and PL but some hope at least. Let’s hope we take confidence that we can play well and keep at the high level we started off with in this match. Come on you reds!
4-0 up and we decide to play with 10 men. Mikel irks me with him picking willian over martinelli and pepe.
And why have we not loaned out Nelson, the kid needs playing time. Thought 4-0 up would have been perfect for him.
Seems we are stuck with playing him. No matter how shit this bloke gets. ma will continue to give him game time. Fine when we are winning but when we start to lose again and we will because we are so fragile then ma will die on his sword for his decision to pick the biggest pile of shite I’ve ever seen at arsenal
Makes no sense to me. Just no upside in playing Willian. He’s old and he’s completely out of form. We have hungry young talents (Martinelli and Nelson) who are much more deserving and, at the very least, would put in a lot more effort.
Why risk Martinelli late in a match against a team that is tackling the shit out of you (nearly destroying your captain), is throwing everything at your goal to try and score and everything at your players to break up the counter, when we are winning by a multi-goal margin? Martinelli would be locking ankles and knees in about 10 seconds in a game like this, and knowing his luck this season he would not be walking away from a Dallas-style tackle in the end. I get it that everyone hates Willian, and Arteta by association, but we beat an… Read more »
Well said👏👏
Martinelli or Pepe….Vs a Dallas style tackle = injured & out for a month.
Then some fans start complaining that players are always injured & our squad is too small🤦♂️😂
It was 4:1 when he came on
It’s like cricket. Some batsmen, when they think they are out, they walk. Playing Willian red-cards us. It is Arteta telling the world, look, we can win with 10 men. “Spoortsmunsheep”
I am totally behind Arteta but I am in no way convinced by his substitutions. I don’t think I’ve ever seen us lose momentum so quickly as when Willian came on. It felt so unnecessary. Why not Laca, Pepe or Martinelli?! And the whole point of a sub is for fresh legs so I want to see Willian and Elneny busting their asses, not casually jogging around!
His subs saw us hold the lead and win the match, and no one got injured in the process, and we have some key players (Holding, Lacazette, Pepe) completely fresh for Benfica. And we won 4-2. We scored four goals. And yet, Arteta’s subs are unconvincing? I can’t follow this stuff anymore …
I’ll listen to Bielsa instead: “You could see it clearly the opposing manager prepared the game better than I did.”
Reading through, a good wedge of our fans would have preferred us to bring on one of the senior players for him to get injured. Then there can be a good old moan about risking valued players when the games already won.
Other than comedy value, there’s little point reading half the comments on here.
Mate, we were hanging on for dear life – because Willian and Elneny more or less took us down to nine men.
How we didn’t concede more and drop points was a very fortunate outcome – we had our hands hovering very firmly over the self destruct button.
In the end, it was a good result and a fine win, but let’s not kid ourselves – those substitutions made us vulnerable to a spectacular collapse – and that’s on the manager.
I’ll take Auba’s and Bielsa’s words on the game, rather than yours — we managed the game well, much better than they did, and they are an excellent team.
The three subs were to close the game out — a single goal was scored during their time on the pitch. We held a two-goal cushion at the end.
I won’t change your perception, of course. You’ve made up your mind about Arteta and have made that very very clear on here. A shame.
Laca, Pepe, Martinelli, and Emile, will probably be our front 4 in Rome on Thursday. Preset subs and we had the game won. Willian is a waste though I wish those minutes were going to a better player.
So no saka or Aubameyang? Hope you’re not picking the team mate.
So you’re not totally behind him. 😉
I agree though. Willian is to football what Mrs. Brown’s boys is to comedy.
😆👍good point
Great to win obviously but Arteta really doesn’t do himself any favours sometimes
Great win, happy with three points of course.
Definitely a pen for Saka – I’m ready to talk about conspiracies. No way we would get Gundogan’s pen from this weekend.
Our subs made us weaker. Jury is out on Arteta. Luiz, in-form Pepe, no Laca all a bit strange but WILLIAN? Please.
It’s becoming a joke now.
Arsenal won, and they still manage to make me feel miserable. They should have pushed on and scored a few more but they invite pressure and concede two stupid goals. In the end, it’s just a relief to win.
Unbelievable.
What? Mate, I’m being serious that you should probably go see a psychologist.
Some people just want to hate so desperately.
All in all that was the most disappointed I have been with a win for a long time on so many levels including the manager.
Not that I have been disappointed before. Sorry just really annoyed at how it panned out.
Why are you annoyed? We played good stuff. Leeds never give up. They will beat teams higher in the league than us for fun.
There’s lots wrong with football, fans are as much a part of it. There just some who refuse to see the good and just want to seek out the negatives.
It’s entertainment. I’d much rather watch a 4-2 than a 6-0.
As a neutral, I guess. I didn’t particularly enjoy the 60th to 88th minute.
Beyond that, I knew they couldn’t get 2 goals.
I saw us Holding on after the last sub.
Why? We beat a very good, high intensity Leeds side and take the 3 points. Cheer up, could have been worse.
And scored four goals (including some beauties) in the process!
I understand that the world right now can lead people to unhappiness through the stress and unpleasantness of it all. I’ve dealt with some of that this week. But it’s important for all of us, for our mental health and such, to appreciate good, positive, fun things when they come.
Such as Spurs losing 3-0 over the same weekend 🙂
Spot on. Exactly how I felt.
What should have been a celebration of Auba, Saka, ESR and Bellerin, plus a promising display from the new lad, was spoiled by the usual suspects.
We really needed to win – and we did. That’s good news. We could have got one, possibly two more and that’s also encouraging. Auba and Saka were excellent I thought. It was a shame to go from a four goal lead to concede two when we seemed to switch off for a while in the second half. Overall though a timely confidence boost at the beginning of a “crucial” two weeks (as MA said). Let’s hope we can build on this in the coming games.
I’m beyond dumbfounded with Agent Willian coming on.
I fear we will piss Martinelli right off on top of actually handing Leeds a lifeline
An entertaining game as is always expected when playing Leeds. Nice to see Auba on the scoresheet again. Shame Willian came on instead of Pepe or Lacazette, that substitution just gave them hope😂.
Good performance by Smile too, that was a fantastic assist
Unfortunately we were denied an initial penalty and that made the scoreline a bit less respectable.
On to the Next One.
Lot has been said about Willian but still amazes me how he get game time. I want to be over optimistic and feels, Arteta wants to bring some confidence in him like Pepe but still that is not working.
Overall great game, specially for neutrals.
Auba is MOM but Saka was class. He is so so good.
I don’t see any culture change in this team. 4-0 up and instead of being ruthless, we see the same shit. The players taking their foots off Leeds neck and allowing them back into the game. I wouldn’t be surprised if Bellerin went in at half time and gave a speech about if they score too many goals it will hurt Leeds players feelings. The defense will get blamed but it’s the whole team. They drop levels when they are ahead. We need another Alexis in this team who wants to put teams to the sword when they’re down and… Read more »
Have any of you watched Leeds against anyone else? They sometimes get hammered, they sometimes do the hammering, they never try to limit the damage, they always attack and try to score, no matter the game situation. We are not the first side disconcerted by their relentlessness.
The good: We played fantastically, was a joy to watch us hammering a team for a chance.
The bad: Arteta insistence on Willian taking minutes off actually good prospects like Martinelli or even Pepe to continue his form.
The Ugly: Once again Willian gets in and become invisible, and as soon as he got in, we started conceding and playing not so good anymore.
4 goals and cruising, then Willian comes on. Coincidence?
(Cue X-Files theme) The true is out there
Does Willian trawl through our comments here? Any comment criticising him (practically ever comment does that, and BAM! it’s downvoted.
I think you’ll find that that’s our learned mate Pat.
The guy loves Willian only slightly less than Arteta.
He reckons that pointing out how useless Willian is means that you apparently have an obsession about him. Extremism is alive and kicking…..
Downvoted this for the lolz
Actually, they scored their first before he came on.
At halftime, I thought 3-0 up would have given Arteta good reason to rest Smith-Rowe and the wonderful Saka. Especially considering number of hard matches coming up. I dont want to join the chorus surrounding Willian but his eternally furrowed brow suggests someone completely out of his depth.
Great game for first 60 mins, don’t think it’s a coincidence Leeds looked better rest of the way when Willian was introduced. VAR reversing that penalty was really annoying, why didn’t they ask the ref to go look at the monitor himself before sending off Luiz against Wolves smdh😡
Willian getting in the team is getting awkward now. He literally changes the dynamic of the team. It’s so weird.
Oh, and I’m 100% certain ESR meant that as a cross.
Cross all day long. Alan Smith was the only person who thought it was a cross.
I love ESR. His little touches, his intelligence. Sublime
*shot
Great first half; slightly dodgy second. Leeds didn’t turn up for the first 45 minutes and we took advantage. Good: that what quality teams do. But then we switched off after that early 4th goal and let them back in it. Luis at fault for the first Leeds goal; Leno for the second (he should have just stood still). But we defended well enough after that. Saka MOTM, not Aubameyang. Why the fuck did Willian come on? He did nothing again. This is becoming really, really fucking annoying. Had we drew 4-4 serious questions would have been asked about that… Read more »
I think the first Leeds goal was a brilliant corner; some goals are really hard to stop. Insofar as any Arsenal player was to blame, it was Saka (who I thought was just fantastic) who let Struiijk get by him and have a clear run to jump freely from behind Luiz.
Can I talk to the other George?
If we switch off, play Willian, and defend like that against Benfica we are toast.
I prefer to look on the bright side. Auba back sparkling again. Saka on fire. ESR is dangerous (and I do think he meant that cross). Some encouraging sparks from Odergaard in his first PL start. Dani and Xhaka solid. Decent contributions from the fullbacks. And we gave Partey and Tierney to make us stronger when fit. Plus, Pepe, Holding and Laca all rested ahead of a huge Benfica match. And we easily could have scored a couple more. COYG!
The one good thing you can say about bringing Willian on was that it looks like the game was already won and we were saving the legs of more important players for big matches coming up in the next few weeks. Of course it almost backfired; Willian made us significantly worse and on another another day we could have thrown away two points.
I would love to see the stats: Saka has got to be the most fouled player in the premier league.
I tried to find a stat for that but all I could uncover was a newspaper article from last November, at which time Grealish was by far the most fouled player with Mane in second place.
Saka definitely leads in the “fouled but no foul whistled” category, I’d say.
Surely Grealish.
Now that’s a dude I’d like to see in an Arsenal shirt.
I’m actually surprised Wenger didn’t go in for him a few years back, although he was a bit of a Charlie Big Potatoes who needed to wind his neck in and get his head down to improving his game – and to be fair to the lad, he has done that quite comprehensively.
Someone will make Villa an offer they can’t refuse sooner or later. I just hope he doesn’t go to Chelsea or, even worse, the lily white crap up the Seven Sisters Road.
The very best and the very worst both on display today. Pleased for Auba, Saka and ESR both brilliant again, Bellerin superb. But while we still have second best individuals like Luiz and Elneny, then we shall still be hanging on for dear life whilst being 4-2 up at home. As for Willian…..for the love of God, why? Why? The guy offers nothing, yet his step dad twice removed still continues to play him. Overall, a good performance that we really should now have been calling a great performance. Auba is back, we have lots to be positive about but… Read more »
Said I would be angry if Willian came on unless we’d scored four. Somehow I was still angry.
Anyway, it’s great to come out on top in an end to end game like that. We were the better team for the most part. A massive three points given we’ve got some really, really tough games ahead. I hate looking at the table and seeing how everyone around us has played fewer games. Hopefully we can spring a few surprises.
I’m liking the front four.
So many good performances: Cedric, Luis and Gabriel, Ceballos, amd especially Saka and Auba.
If Auba stays at his top level we are a different team. There are a lot of storylines about this season but one of the biggest is having to compete without Auba’s goals. It makes life in the league very difficult when he’s not scoring. Great performance from the skipper. Hope he stays at his best.
And young Saka, dominating teams at 19 years old. Bukayo Saka is the best young footballer in England!
We needed to get as many ball passers in the team with the absence of the assuring and quick passing partey. That’s why odegaars was included at the expense of pepe. Leeds are an attacking team so having auba up top was a good ,choice too. good performance overall. This is exactly the kind,of game to bring willian on, when we’re already 4-0 up, and we just need to satisfy whoever’s fetish for willian. i thought we should have made a double sub at 4-0 up – rowe and saka off for elneny and martinelli, and then holding for aubavonce… Read more »
When fans are allowed back into stadiums. There is going to loud groans every time Willian is put on and cheers when he comes off.
He will probably be retired before we are allowed back.
Not having a go at you FGS but I hope that doesn’t happen and doubt it well. He might hear about it if and when he fucks up of course
Can 1 journalist ask Arteta what he sees in Willian that nobody else does because this is getting ridiculous. He is SHIT. There is no way he should be getting SECONDS on a football pitch.
I can understand the frustration over Willian but let’s just enjoy the win. Arteta deserves credit. Besides if we can get Willian to add some value to him and us, why not sub him on. Pepe and Martinelli needed a rest with the games coming up.
Fuck me. You’re a miserable lot. We played well. We cut them open at will. Saka bossed it, ESR roamed with menace, MO looked tidy on his first start and Auba took the match ball home.
Okay, Willian looks like he won a ‘be a footballer competition’ on the back of a pack of cornflakes. But remember, we are a huge work in progress, and we should enjoy the wins.
Leeds are a good side, and don’t give up. We battered them at times, and that was lovely to watch, because fuck Leeds and fuck Mark Viduka.
Really generous to give optimism to Leeds by bringing on Willian!
When the substitute board went up and he appeared on the touch line, my daughters both laughed and said “No swearing now, Dad…!”
It’s getting to be a regular thing. Willian comes on – I’m like “FFS!” 🤣
Good win today and much needed. Everton dropped points as did Soton and Leeds was a 6 pointer for us. PLUS considering next weekend’s fixture against City, we needed to bank it. Some very nice short pass interchanges in tight confines particularly midfield first half. A bit of a rdop off second half cost us so still work to be done. Considering we are playing a new permutation in midfield with almost two false 9s in ESR and Odegaard plus Ceballos just back in as well, evidently some hiccups expected. But generally we were pleasing to the eyes if helped… Read more »
It will be prudent if you add the time of substitution on the line up or if that is difficult – in the main report re Martin Ødegaard. What happened to old-school match reporting where minutes were sacrosanct?
I think Andre Marriner told his wife to bet against Arsenal winning a penalty. I am losing trust in FA and the referees. It seems the matches are fixed just like they are in T20 cricket especially in India Premier League (IPL).
We know match fixing happens as we saw in 1994 with murder of a footballer who cost someone who lost big time.