Arsenal 5-0 Leeds: Viktor Gyokeres are up for the Gunners after grabbing the club’s first two goals in this thrashing with the Emirates, but Mikel Arteta will be worried about two major injuries.
Arsenal sent a message to title rivals on Saturday with Leeds United’s 5-0 thrashing at the Emirates, but their victory was overshadowed by two worried injuries to Martin Odegard and Bukayo Saka.
The Gunners could have easily found themselves in the 16th minute of the game, thanks to a great press from Martin Zubimendi, as a sloppy pass from Leeds’ back was punished by Arsenal, but Viktor Gyoker didn’t turn the ball when he just yards off the goal.
Still, it wasn’t long before Arsenal broke deadlock as Julientimber nodded from Declan Rice’s corner delivery in the 34th minute. About ten minutes later, and just at halftime stroke, Saka broke the house from an angle and ended up in two after being fed to the wood.
Shortly after the break, Gyoker ultimately shrugged the critics. The first goal from the club was bagged with an impressive finish. Gyoker bumped fifth from the scene after 15-year-old Max Dowman came in and scored a penalty.
There are five topics from Emirates.
read more: Eberechi Eze Lands Dream Shirt Numbers As Arsenal Complete Ransfer Hijackread more: Ian Wright Slam “2 Bob Center Forward” launched Arsenal’s Victor Gyoker
Arsenal is still the set piece kings
The new season, the same story.
Arsenal’s first two goals came from a dead ball after Riccardo Calfioli bundled the house out of the corner as Riccardo Calfioli won a 1-0 victory over Manchester United last week.
This time it was Julian Timber who nodded the house after Declan Rice whipped the ball – and the duo repeated the feat in the second half after the defender bundled the house from another great delivery from the English midfielder.
When it comes to setting pieces for this season, it’s clear that Arsenal is still king.
Before the game, Leeds boss Daniel Fark dismisses the importance of the Arsenal set-piece threat after being asked if his side’s height would help them today, claiming “we’re still playing soccer, not basketball.” His words definitely came back to bite him.
After helping out score 21 times from the setpiece in the 2024-25 campaign, a lot of work was done by specialist coach Nicholas Jover last season, and that’s only continued here.
Arteta doesn’t want to resort to purely set pieces, so we hope Arsenal will become more powerful from open play as the season progresses. But it is certainly a great weapon that teams can use to give their rivals an advantage.
Worrying about serious injuries
Arsenal has already lost one key player this week at Kai Herberts. Now I have two more fitness concerns in one game.
The first Captain Odegard set off with a knock in the first half. After that, Saka had to wear underwear for Leandro Toro Saad just after the second half began to fall awkwardly.
Odegard will be huge for Arsenal title hopes this season, but he has left many Arsenal fans in a sweat in the stands after he rolls into Stouch and falls awkwardly.
Initially, the Norwegian playmaker tried to escape it and looked OK, but we found him struggling and eventually becoming vulgar due to Ethan Nwaneri.
He is trying to ensure Starman is fresh throughout the season, so it’s clear that Arteta won’t get a chance at Odegaard’s fitness and that it’s not a serious problem.
For Saka, it looked like a recurrence of hamstring damage that kept him shut for several months, but that would be a major concern.
Arteta will certainly be pleased that Eberechi Eze’s new signature arrived at the right time as someone who could give Arsenal some quality in the event of losing either player.
Eze only makes Arsenal better
Arsenal fans were captivated before kickoff. Their new £67 million Ebebeki Eze was announced to the crowd and looked cool, calm and collected as the former Crystal Palace star came on the pitch.
And the Gunners eventually rioted, but the team struggled with a lack of upcoming adventure and risk-taking in the open play of the first half, setting yet another set-piece goal.
Arsenal fans are keen to play more complicated and creatively in the midfield, which helps unlock stubborn defenses early on. They look like a majestic aspect this season – and Eze just adds to it.
He has shown he is a man of great opportunity after winning the Palace’s winner in the FA Cup final against Manchester City last season.
England International may be the last missing piece of Arsenal’s puzzle as they bid to ultimately win the Premier League title.
I’ll remove the mark
After putting up a poor show with Manchester United on the first day, Victor Guiyoker’s pressure was really rising, so after bagging the brace against Leeds he would be happy to eventually pull the monkey away from his back.
He was first on the shooting line again after missing out on a gold plated opportunity to move Arsenal ahead against Leeds.
Leeds tried to play from behind, but Struijk played a poor pass to Stack, Zubimendi pressed the ball and nudged it to yard out of goal, and the keeper just beat.
However, the Swedish star was stretching and somehow plunged the ball into the goal when it looked likely he would inflate the net.
Gyokeres is playing in a new league for the first time after not being able to get a chance when he was a Brighton guy, so it’s understandable even if he spends his time living in England.
However, he collected the ball on the left and ran into the box, then slotted the ball into the corner for the first goal, then entered the box, and then really showed the quality he had and grabbed the second from the penalty spot.
Certainly there is still work to do, but Gyoker has great confidence from achieving his initial goal on the board.
The sky is the limit of Douman
For 15-year-old Max Dowman, it’s a moment. They clearly won’t stop the development of this incredibly talented you, if you’re good enough, after he comes to his first Arsenal game and contributes to his ultimate goal.
Many of us will wonder what we are doing at age 15, but this guy has really managed to get to the top of the game, the final 30 minutes of Arsenal’s big victory and what this will be for him.
Wearing No 56, he was given a raised reception from a crowd of delighted gunners and he came to his side 4-0, so he could play without pressure.
He is not the youngest player in Premier League history. That record belongs to his armory teammate Ethan Nuwaneri – a small amount. He played his first game in 15 years and 181 days, but Douman became the second Youngest in 15 years and 229 days.
Confidence oozed out of this young man, and he sometimes showed his quality. One day he pulled the ball out of the sky with a great touch before breaking a shot past the bar. He then lived from the outside of the box towards a volley goal, and had a great chance to become the youngest ever scorer on top flight, but saw his efforts fall outside of the target.
His biggest moment came when he scored a penalty against Arsenal’s fifth goal – this was converted by Gyoker – although you might have said it was diving. In any case, this man’s introduction is clearly shown.
Douman bows his head and works hard, hears all the experienced heads around him, and there is no ceiling on what he can achieve in his career.
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