We restored our seven-point cushion at the top of the Premier League table thanks to a dominant win against Leeds United at Elland Road.
Despite the blow of losing Bukayo Saka to injury in the warm-up, his replacement Noni Madueke would play a major part as he set up Martin Zubimendi’s opener before providing the corner which led to Karl Darlow netting an own goal.
After the restart, Viktor Gyokeres added his fourth goal in his last six games before Gabriel Jesus added late gloss to an impressive scoreline, given the in-form Whites had lost one of their previous 11 games coming into this contest.
Madueke the man
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We suffered a blow ahead of kick-off when Saka pulled up in the warm-up and needed to be replaced at the last moment by Madueke, but fortunately, he had time to find his way in the game during a quiet opening 20 minutes.
A 25-yarder from Ethan Ampadu which cleared the bar and a Zubimendi grasscutter were the only moments of note before the 27th minute when we got in front - and Madueke was instrumental in it.
After a corner was only cleared to the edge of the area, Declan Rice fed it back to the winger on the right, and he cleverly created a yard of space from Gabriel Gudmundsson to deliver a teasing cross into the box, where Zubimendi ghosted in to flick a header past Darlow and register his fifth of the season.
That silenced the boisterous home crowd, and 11 minutes later, Madueke reduced the decibel levels further as he helped to double our advantage. His devilish corner was swung tight into the goalmouth and Darlow collided with Dominic Calvert-Lewin as he attempted to punch clear, and could only watch in horror as the ball spun into his own net via the post.
Gyokeres in the goals
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We returned to the away changing room with a 2-0 lead, and five minutes into the second half, only a fantastic sliding block by Joe Rodon prevented Gyokeres from pulling the trigger as he bore down on goal, with Jurrien Timber heading the resulting corner over the top.
The home supporters continued to rally behind their team as Daniel Farke’s team began to build a small head of steam without really troubling David Raya, but on 69 minutes, we put the game to bed with our third of the afternoon.
A fine pass by Martin Odegaard allowed Gabriel Martinelli to scamper past Pascal Struijk’s challenge and then beat the Leeds defender again before putting a fine cross into the box, where Gyokeres out-muscled James Justin to steer into the net from close range and ensure we would make seven wins in a row at Elland Road, stretching back 25 years.
Jesus on target too
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We’ve recorded plenty of big wins at the Yorkshire venue in that time, we went looking to add to our tally. Having replaced Gyokeres, Jesus firstly steered a shot just wide before looking destined to power in a header, but Darlow made a fine reflex stop to tip it over the bar.
However with four minutes to go, it was third time lucky for the Brazilian. Another great Odegaard pass between the lines found Jesus, who held off Struijk before picking his moment to shoot on the turn, and saw his effort flash past Darlow to register his fourth in four games against Leeds.
He nearly added another when he saw a looping header from a corner cleared off the line, but a four-goal win was more than enough to get back to winning ways in the Premier League in emphatic style.
What's next
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We return to Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night for the second leg of our Carabao Cup semi-final against Chelsea, where we currently lead 3-2. Next weekend brings another home game when Sunderland visit for league action on Saturday, and then we travel to Brentford on Thursday, February 12.
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