Mikel Arteta heaped praise on his Arsenal squad after their comprehensive home win over Leeds United. The Whites made life difficult for the hosts in the opening half an hour and went close to taking a shock lead but Pascal Struijk's bullet header was brilliantly tipped over the bar by David Raya.
But it was a rare goal-scoring opportunity for United and the Gunners took complete control of the contest from the moment Jurrien Timber nodded them in front in the 34th minute. Bukayo Saka doubled their advantage on the stroke of half-time.
Sweden international Viktor Gyokeres marked his home debut in style by grabbing Arsenal's third following a mazy run. Timber then got on the scoresheet again after the Whites failed to deal with a corner and Gyokeres slotted home a penalty deep into added on time after 15-year-old Max Dowman was upended by Anton Stach.
Gunners boss Arteta believes the team have got a "lot to be excited by" this season. He said: A really positive afternoon to start the season off at home, You could feel the energy immediately, that it had gone up a level and that is what we were looking for. The team played really well, really confident. The team created a lot and did not concede anything. Five goals and a clean sheet is a really good start.
"We have abilities to score in various ways. Very happy for Viktor [Gyokeres] scoring his first two goals and Jurrien [Timber] too for his two goals after such a long injury and hard work. Then the other debuts of Mosquera and Max at just 15 years old, that was special for sure."
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Leeds United
The result extended Arsenal's unbeaten run against United to 15 matches across all competitions, (W13 D2), winning each of the last seven in a row. Despite the Whites' heavy defeat, Arteta is convinced they have what it takes to stay in the Premier League.
"I think so (they will survive relegation)," he said. "I am very complimentary of them. What I love is they will maintain that philosophy from Monday. We all know the fans they have behind them."
The win means the Gunners are now undefeated in their last 43 Premier League home matches against promoted sides (W38 D5), since a 1-0 loss to Newcastle United in November 2010. Arsenal have equalled the competition’s longest run without a home defeat against promoted teams – 43 by Chelsea between 2001 and 2015.
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