Quiet moments at Elland Road are rare. If you can manufacture them, they are sure as hell earned. It was predictably boisterous early on as Arsenal’s mentality and credentials were under the cosh from a crowd renowned for doing everything in their power to get behind their team and into the heads of their opponents.
“You’ll f*** it up,” crowed the Leeds fans all around the ground. Which is why it was so notable later in the game when Arsenal did what every ambitious team has to do in critical moments, with pressure burning as it has been for the past few weeks.
Arsenal found the blend of courage, commitment and concentration to ease into a lead that turned down the Leeds volume. With the three points looking assured, the rain started its metallic hammering onto the stadium roof and the atmosphere briefly softened to a dull chatter as Arsenal passed the ball about in search of more goals. That is textbook away control.
It came from a gulf in class that Arsenal generated in two ways — by physically matching Leeds’s determined, bustling endeavour, then by expressing a level of technique that enabled them to cruise to an emphatic win.
Individually and collectively, this game screamed ‘reaction’. It was a fundamental requirement after three league games when seven points were leaked. Declan Rice spoke for the squad when he explained how they have tried to compartmentalise that frustration. “We’re all old enough and we’ve all played enough to realise the last three games we’ve had a blip,” he said in an interview with Sky Sports after the game. “We knew we had to go out there and get three points.”
Declan Rice said the team knew they had to step up against Leeds after poor recent results (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
The sense of reaction was felt all over the pitch.
Martin Zubimendi had been implicated in two of Manchester United’s goals last weekend and his determination to make amends was evident in his joyful celebration. His header, which opened the scoring, was also a testimony to the intelligence of his movement and game reading.
His goal was created with a fine ball from Noni Madueke. After Bukayo Saka pulled up with a niggle in the warm-up, Madueke was suddenly promoted to start a Premier League game for the eighth time this season.
In Wednesday’s 3-2 win against Kairat, Madueke had a shot that was the subject of online hilarity, with all manner of suggestions about how many different countries or landmarks it might have aimed for. At Leeds, Madueke took on the mantle of chance creation from the right flank and by half-time, two of his deliveries had helped build a 2-0 lead.
His corner bewildered goalkeeper Karl Darlow, who punched it in close to the goal frame despite the three closest players to him all wearing white. Arsenal have been threatening to score directly from a corner this season, with Saka and Rice going close from the precision balls they drop just under the crossbar. Madueke went closer still. His team-mates congratulated him with no doubt that it was his goal in spirit.
Having experienced death by corners in the first half, Leeds faced a different proposition in the second as Mikel Arteta switched multiple forwards and smart open play yielded rewards. Most intriguingly, Martin Odegaard, the captain forced to accept a place on the bench, came on in place of the returning Kai Havertz and it played out in the way Arteta hoped — Havertz’s physical presence was valuable to counter some of the directness Arsenal expected, and Odegaard was refreshed and released to come on and enjoy himself later on.
Horses for courses, then, as Arsenal galloped away with it. Odegaard was involved in two goals. First, he sent fellow substitute Gabriel Martinelli away, and the Brazilian skipped past a challenge, chopped back, and crossed beautifully for Viktor Gyokeres to stab in. Then Odegaard assisted another of those game finishers in Gabriel Jesus, whose dancing feet teased his marker before he smacked the ball into the corner.
All in all, this was delicious and effective medicine for a team that needed more from its attacking components.
To the credit of the Leeds crowd, the home support sang in the rain about staying up despite a 0-4 scoreline. A young lad on the way out yelled, “Get into ’em!” It is all about perspective. They know they have to write off their results against Arsenal this season.
But for the visitors, in its own way, this game could be season-defining. It goes without saying that they would have felt the walls closing in had it not gone well.
“We talk about noise,” Arteta said after the game, “but this was a great noise as well, a very positive one. We always want to talk more about the other noise.
“The expectation is to win every game. We compete against incredible opponents, and that has to fuel your energy and desire to win. We really wanted to show how much we wanted it.”
Arsenal needed to show a different face after disappointment and criticism. They could not allow any doubts to fester. They responded in every way.