Arsenal Leeds United
Leeds United did not have the best of days at the Etihad on Saturday afternoon. After a run of good results, the Whites were brought back down to Earth by Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side.
Everyone knew coming into this game that it was going to be a difficult clash; the Gunners losing to Manchester United was an unexpected blip, and Leeds were very wary after West Ham managed a win last weekend. It was everything to play for at Elland Road on Saturday, before the game, Arsenal had their travel plans disrupted, with many thinking it would affect their preparations.
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It was business as usual for Mikel Arteta’s men, putting Leeds United to the sword for the whole of the 90 minutes.
Paul Merson delivers brutal Leeds United verdict after Arsenal defeat
Arsenal found it too easy against Leeds United from the first half; despite the home side coming out strongly, they were silenced by an unexpected goal after just 27 minutes. The Gunners doubled the lead just 11 minutes later and it was smooth sailing from then. Mikel Arteta’s side added two goals without reply in the second half in a very dominant win for the away team.
Paul Merson was on punditry duty on Soccer Saturday and he had some brutal words for the home side:
“Calvert-Lewin’s inside the near post, he goes up but Darlow goes over him to try and punch it, he can’t really get above him and he goes to punch, he punches it into the side netting, clear own goal and its 2-0 and at the moment this could be any score, it’s all Arsenal, it’s men versus boys at the moment and they need half-time very, very quickly.”
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Leeds did not put up a fight on Saturday
Despite the disappointing results, Leeds fans will be very disappointed that the team did not put up a real fight. It looked like Arsenal were in control for the whole game, and never felt threated by anything Daniel Farke’s side had for them. This game ended up being very similar to what happened when the two teams met at the Emirates Stadium at the start of the season. Now, the Whites need to go back to the drawing board and pick themselves up again as the continue their fight for survival in the Premier League.