Premier League: Arsenal 5 [Timber 34, 56; Saka 45+1; Gyökeres 48, 90-5 pen] Leeds United 0
It was an occasion that was transcended by someone who did not play but had so much more to chew over from an Arsenal point of view. The club showed off their new signing, Eberechi Eze, parading him beforehand and screening a welcome video for him at half-time.
As the goals flew in to defeat Leeds, the cutaways to him in the stands were inevitable. Eze’s signing has the feel of a coup and not only because Arsenal, in the vernacular of the trade, properly did over Tottenham to land him.
Eze clapped as Jurriën Timber opened the scoring following a corner, Bukayo Saka made it 2-0 and Viktor Gyökeres opened his account for the club with the third. There would be another goal for Timber following another corner; Arsenal’s excellence in this area endures. And another one for Gyökeres from the penalty spot at the very end.
And yet when it was over, it was yet another new boy whose name was on everybody’s lips. Max Dowman got on for his first Arsenal appearance in a competitive game as a 64th-minute substitute and the crowd would be singing his name as he made a few smooth and fearless runs with the ball. Remember, Dowman is just 15.
READ MORE
Playing on the right wing, Dowman also flashed a shot high from the edge of the area and it was him winning the penalty at the death, going down after the tiniest of touches from Anton Stach. Is Dowman taking GCSE drama? The whiff of something untoward removed very little of the shine from his performance.
It was a procession after Timber’s first goal on 34 minutes; Leeds started stoutly only to be swatted aside. But the celebratory air was not total. Far from it. Mikel Arteta had not been able to select Ben White because of an injury, with Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus also out. He would lose the captain, Martin Ødegaard, and Saka to further problems, which is a long way from being ideal when Arsenal’s next game is at Liverpool next Sunday. – Guardian
