Arsenal came from a goal down to beat Leeds United 2-1, ending the visitors’ unbeaten run and resetting their own form after the lengthy international break. Bruno Guimarães, introduced as part of a triple substitution by Mikel Arteta, scored the winner nine minutes after coming on. Arsenal were not at their best, and their defence again looked more vulnerable than it did last season, but the impact of the bench and the belief that swept through the side once they had forced an equaliser pointed to a team that has acquired the resilience of champions. As the home support put it: “we know who we are.”
The first half was a tight affair that nonetheless left both sides with reason for hope. Leeds were typically resilient and able to move up the pitch in two touches, while Arsenal were too intricate at times, alarmingly vulnerable at others, yet close to unpicking the visiting defence. It was Leeds who carved out the better chances, with deliveries from both flanks unsettling Arsenal’s back line. In the 25th minute a Gabriel Gudmundsson cross was well met by Jayden Bogle but blocked, inadvertently, by Anton Stach. Two minutes later Bogle was denied again, gathering the loose ball from an Ao Tanaka cross and firing at David Raya from a tight angle, and with a minute left in the half Raya produced a carbon-copy save to keep out Gudmundsson himself. Arsenal could not have complained had they gone in a goal down at the break.
There were signs of encouragement for the home side, not least the selection of Noni Madueke, one of four changes, who was getting the better of James Justin on the left. Madueke’s crosses deserved more from his forwards, Kai Havertz especially, who headed straight at James Trafford from eight yards with the goal at his mercy in the 21st minute. Daniel Farke, for his part, named the same Leeds side he had selected for the previous three matches, and with some having predicted a goal-fest and others another upset for the champions, there was a genuine sense of uncertainty about how the afternoon would unfold.
With no changes at half-time, the second period offered one side the chance to impose itself, and Leeds accepted the invitation. For the first 15 minutes they dominated, overpowering Arsenal in midfield and running beyond their full-backs. Justin and Tanaka both sent long-range efforts narrowly wide before the visitors finally took the lead, Justin firing home after Gudmundsson had run off Ben White and delivered a low cross from the left that Raya could not cut out. That was the 55th minute, and three minutes later Noah Okafor nearly doubled the advantage but could not get the final touch to a Bogle cross.
Within three minutes of that escape, the game had snapped in a new direction. Arsenal equalised in the manner Leeds had been threatening for so long: a deep cross from Madueke was met at the back post by White, whose header eluded Trafford and was bundled home by Riccardo Calafiori for his second Premier League goal of the season.
Arteta then made a triple substitution and unleashed Guimarães. If Arsenal had carried a familiar look to that point, with echoes of familiar weaknesses, the Brazilian put an end to all that. He snapped into tackles, moved the ball at pace and was desperate for everything to go faster, more aggressively and with sharper intention. Nine minutes after coming on, he scored the winner.
The goal reflected the best of what Arsenal had been trying to achieve. Play developed down the left once more, but this time with Bukayo Saka swapping in for Madueke and playing a one-two with Martin Odegaard. The captain then poked a short pass to Declan Rice, who had ventured into the opposition area with Guimarães covering him, and Rice backheeled the ball first time to the edge of the area, where Guimarães was waiting to steer it unerringly into the corner of the goal.
Further chances fell to the home side, including Odegaard from two yards out and Saka, who failed to execute a one-on-one with Trafford, but the misses did not ultimately matter given the transformation in the game. Leeds left the field looking shocked.