Arsenal come from behind to beat Leeds as Bruno Guimaraes shines
Arsenal needed a second half turnaround to see off a stubborn Leeds United side at Emirates Stadium on Saturday, coming from behind to win 2-1 thanks to goals from Riccardo Calafiori and Bruno Guimaraes.
Mikel Arteta made three changes to the side beaten by Brighton, bringing in Ben White, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Noni Madueke. Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyokeres had to settle for the bench, while Kai Havertz kept his place up front despite reportedly picking up a knock on international duty.
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A slow first half
Arsenal started brightly but faded quickly as Leeds settled into the game, pressing high and moving the ball well. The hosts were caught offside four times inside the opening 16 minutes, and it took 20 minutes for Arsenal to register their first shot, a Havertz header from a Madueke cross that lacked the power to trouble James Trafford.
Leeds had the better of the chances throughout the half. Anton Stach saw a goalbound effort blocked by his own teammate, Jayden Bogle forced a save out of David Raya, and Gabriel Gudmundsson struck a well hit effort that Raya had to parry away just before the break. By half time, Arsenal were second best in nearly every department.
The comeback
Leeds took a deserved lead ten minutes into the second half when Gudmundsson got free down the left again, his low cross eventually falling to James Justin, who slammed it past Calafiori and Gabriel on the line.
Arsenal were level within seven minutes. Madueke's deep cross found White at the back post, who headed back across goal for Calafiori to volley home from close range after Havertz had dragged two defenders away.
Arteta responded immediately with a triple change, sending on Jurrien Timber, Bruno Guimaraes and Gyokeres for White, Lewis-Skelly and Havertz. The substitutions transformed the game. Seven minutes after the equaliser, Arsenal completed the turnaround through a slick move: Madueke found Odegaard, who found Saka, who found Declan Rice, whose clever backheel teed up Guimaraes to finish into the bottom corner for his first goal at the Emirates.
Arsenal continued to press for a third, with Saka shooting over and Odegaard somehow failing to convert from close range after good work from Rice. Arteta made two further changes late on, bringing on Piero Hincapie and Mikel Merino for Calafiori and Odegaard to see the game out. Gyokeres had a glaring chance to seal the win after a mix up between Trafford and Tarik Muharemovic but couldn't find an angle, and Saka was denied in stoppage time by a smart Trafford save.
As detailed in the original Arseblog match report, Arsenal were well below their best for long stretches but found enough quality from the bench to turn the game around. The win moves Arsenal onto three points from the fixture, with attention now turning to the next round of matches.
