Pascal Struijk went closest to scoring for Leeds United at Arsenal with a first half header.placeholder image
Pascal Struijk went closest to scoring for Leeds United at Arsenal with a first half header.
The Premier League honeymoon period is very definitely over for Leeds United as they were given a rude awakening on how tough it can be in the Premier League with their 5-0 beating at the hands of likely title challengers Arsenal.
The 5-0 win for the Gunners showed a huge gulf in class between the teams and hinted at a long, hard season ahead for Daniel Farke and his men.
After the encouragement of the deserved opening home win over Everton it was all together tougher in the second game with a number of harsh lessons to be learned for the Whites.
It was a clinical display against them as Arsenal scored with all five of their efforts on target and never really got out of first gear to overcome a United side that defended timidly, struggled to pass the ball with any accuracy after being hustled out of stride and lacked any kind of attacking threat.
It was not a great evening for any of the Leeds players, but a tough second appearance for new goalkeeper Lucas Perri who will have to improve hugely if he is to win fans over that he is the answer to the Whites' keeper prayers.
Manager Farke did not single out any players for criticism, but admitted his team had been second best.
He said: "I think it's fair to say that Arsenal deserved to win this game.
“They were the better side, they deserved also to win this game with a good proper goal difference
"I'm not sure if it was actually a 5-0 because five shots on target and they scored with all five of these shots.
“Long story short, it's more like when a team like Arsenal are on it – a team who in the last three years is probably the best team in the whole of Europe at least in consistency you could argue, not title winners but no other team has showed this consistency – then it's always difficult.
"It's not a season-defining game for us. We accept they were better than us."
Leeds looked unsettled from the start and could have been behind early on when their attempts to play out from the back left them presenting the ball to Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres. Lucky for the visitors on this occasion he rushed his finish and sent the ball wide.
Farke's men survived their early problems and looked capable of frustrating their opponents with Perri well protected for much of the first half.
They could even have scored first when Pascal Struijk forced the first save from home keeper David Raya with a powerful header from a corner.
But from Arsenal's first corner they opened the scoring in the 34th minute, Jurrien Timber beating Struijk and Joe Rodon in the air to head home.
The killer second goal followed in added time as Bukayo Saka got free in the box and his angled strike was too powerful for Perri, who should have done more to keep the ball out.
Things went bad to worse early in the second half with £64 million signing Gyokeres grabbing his first Arsenal goal after all too easily skipping past Struijk before beating Perri at his near post.
Timber scored his second from another corner following further indecisive defending and despite putting on substitutes there was no comeback or decent football from Leeds.
There was further embarrassment in added time as 15-year-old Max Dowman theatrically won a penalty after the thinnest of touches by Anton Stach and Gyokeres stepped up to score from the spot.
Suddenly there is more importance attached to United's trip to Sheffield Wednesday for the second round Carabao Cup tie on Tuesday with some of the new signings likely to be given chance to press their claims to a first team spot for the next Premier game at home to Newcastle.
There are certainly a few positions up for grabs after the display at Arsenal, which must rank as one of the worst in Farke's time with Leeds, no matter how strong the opposition was.
(Timber 34, 56, Saka 45+1, Gyokeres 48, 90+5 pen)
Saturday, August 23, 2025
Premier League
Attendance: 60,110
Arsenal: Raya; Timber (Mosquera 64), Gabriel, Saliba, Calafiori (Lewis-Skelly 64); Rice, Zubimendi; Saka (Trosaard 53), Odegaard (Nwaneri 38), Madueke (Dowman 64); Gyokeres.
Leeds: Perri; Bogle (Byram 83), Rodon, Struijk, Gudmundsson; Gruev, Stach, Tanaka (Longstaff 58); James (Aaronson 66), Gnonto (Okafor 66), Piroe (Nmecha 58).
Referee: Jarred Gillett
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