Arsenal maintained their 100% start to the Premier League season with a 4-0 battering of Leeds United at the Emirates Stadium, but the win came at quite the cost for Mikel Arteta.
The home crowd were already celebrating even before the first whistle blew, as the Gunners announced the signing of Eberechi Eze 30 minutes before kickoff, and the £67.5m playmaker was unveiled on the pitch to rapturous applause.
Arsenal could have done with Eze's inventiveness in the first half hour as they struggled to generate open-play chances once again, but a classic corner goal - this one from Jurrien Timber - broke the deadlock before Bukayo Saka's thunderous finish doubled the hosts' lead on the stroke of half time.
In between both strikes, Arteta lost influential skipper Martin Odegaard to injury, and Saka then followed suit in the second half, but not before summer signing Viktor Gyokeres opened his Arsenal account with a fine low finish.
Timber's second of the afternoon not long after enabled Arsenal and Arteta to launch the experiments, as the Spaniard sent on 15-year-old Max Dowman for his Premier League debut, as the 2009-born phenom became the second-youngest player to make an appearance in the competition behind teammate Ethan Nwaneri.
Dowman had a couple of cracks at goal himself - which sailed high and wide - but the teenager then won a last-gasp penalty for Gyokeres to strike his second and Arsenal's fifth.
SPORTS MOLE'S VERDICT
Arsenal's Viktor Gyokeres celebrates scoring on August 23, 2025
Corner FC was very much in business for the opening 45 minutes of Saturday's game, where in an all too familiar tale, Arsenal lacked ingenuity in the final third and needed Rice's dead-ball devastation to get them out of trouble.
However, Leeds' defensive structure was broken by Timber's pinpoint header, after which the defensive frailties and high line of Daniel Farke's side were exposed by Arteta's men, who displayed a refreshing ruthless edge that has often eluded them.
Gyokeres's first brace, Noni Madueke's promising display and Dowman's momentous debut were the ingredients for a perfect afternoon, but the injuries suffered to Odegaard and Saka will soon be at the forefront of Gooners' minds once the dust has settled.
Kai Havertz's recent knee issue has also deprived Arteta of another attacking favourite, but unlike 2024-25, the Gunners finally have the depth required to cope with such concerns - at least on paper.
Whether Arteta's men really can survive without three critical names will be answered at Anfield if Odegaard, Saka and Havertz all miss out, but on a more pleasing and pertinent note, today's display was far more akin to that of a side with realistic title ambitions.
ARSENAL VS. LEEDS HIGHLIGHTS
Jurrien Timber goal vs. Leeds (34th min, Arsenal 1-0 Leeds)
Another Arsenal goal from a corner!
Declan Rice with the cross, Jurrien Timber with the header ? pic.twitter.com/X8JEsSpq1f
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 23, 2025
Death, taxes, and Arsenal scoring from a set-piece!
The Gunners have been found wanting from open play, but Declan Rice's corners do the damage once again, as the Englishman's inswinging delivery is on the money for Timber to head home into the bottom corner.
Bukayo Saka goal vs. Leeds (45+1 min, Arsenal 2-0 Leeds)
Bukayo Saka with a RUTHLESS finish to put Arsenal two up before half-time! ?? pic.twitter.com/Nlgdp2aYoq
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 23, 2025
Light the beacons - Arsenal have scored a goal from open play!
Leeds cause their own problems trying to play out from the back, as Rice wins possession for Arsenal and Martin Zubimendi sprays the ball out to goalscorer Timber on the right.
The Dutchman slips in Saka with a perfectly-weighted through ball, and rather than square for Viktor Gyokeres, the Hale End winger picks out the top corner with a brilliant strike from a tight angle.
Saka's trademark finish leaves Lucas Perri dumbfounded, and the Gunners can breathe easier now.
Viktor Gyokeres goal vs. Leeds (48th min, Arsenal 3-0 Leeds)
Viktor Gyökeres scores his first Arsenal goal and what a goal this is ✨ pic.twitter.com/bpchneTaDY
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 23, 2025
Off the mark and donning the mask, Gyokeres has his first competitive goal for Arsenal!
The Swede holds his run to meet Riccardo Calafiori's lofted ball over the top, bursts inside from the left and manages to squeeze a low strike into Perri's near post through a sea of bodies.
Jurrien Timber goal vs. Leeds (56th min, Arsenal 4-0 Leeds)
Copy and paste!
Jurrien Timber gets his second of the game and from a Declan Rice corner once again ? pic.twitter.com/yoo0vcxf4A
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 23, 2025
They are yelling Timber!
Forget Gabriel Magalhaes, Arsenal have found their new chief threat from corners, as another inch-perfect Rice delivery causes chaos in the box and is eventually poked in by Timber.
The VAR quickly checks to see whether William Saliba handed the ball in the six-yard box, but the goal stands.
Viktor Gyokeres goal vs. Leeds (90+5 min, Arsenal 5-0 Leeds)
MAN OF THE MATCH - JURRIEN TIMBER
Arsenal's Jurrien Timber pictured on August 17, 2025
Anyone out there who selected Timber for their Fantasy Football team this week - or perhaps even captained the flying Dutchman - make yourselves known.
Arteta's right-back had a direct hand in three of the Gunners' goals on the day - two set-piece efforts and a slick pass through to Saka - but spare a thought for the injured Ben White, who may now be increasingly pessimistic about his chances of returning to the XI.
ARSENAL VS. LEEDS MATCH STATS
Possession: Arsenal 68%-32% Leeds
Shots: Arsenal 18-3 Leeds
Shots on target: Arsenal 5-1 Leeds
Corners: Arsenal 2-2 Leeds
Fouls: Arsenal 8-11 Leeds
BEST STATS
Max Dowman (15 years and 229 days) becomes Arsenal’s second-young Premier League debutant after Ethan Nwaneri (15 years and 181 days).
Golden generation. ??? pic.twitter.com/tOAmbbbmNf
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) August 23, 2025
Jurrien Timber is the first Arsenal defender to be directly involved in 3+ goals in a Premier League game since Nacho Monreal vs. Crystal Palace in January 2018. ⚽️⚽️?️ pic.twitter.com/qudmChqwFp
— Squawka (@Squawka) August 23, 2025
WHAT NEXT?
The toughest Premier League assignment possible awaits Arsenal next Sunday, as the Gunners face champions Liverpool at Anfield, where Eze ought to take to the field in the red and white for the first time regardless of Saka and Odegaard's statuses.
As far as Leeds are concerned, the Whites begin their EFL Cup campaign away to Sheffield Wednesday in Tuesday's second-round tie, before hosting Newcastle United in league action next Saturday.
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