December 25, 2024

Arsenal 4-2 Leeds United: Premier League – as it happened

Leeds #Leeds

1.37pm EST 13:37

Here’s Nick Ames’ report from the Emirates.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hits hat-trick as explosive Arsenal dazzle Leeds

1.29pm EST 13:29

Mick gets in touch: “We’re an entirely different team without Phillips, first job in the summer is finding a reliable backup for him. But considering we were getting tonked 6-0 by Wednesday a few years back, I’ll take a competitive loss to the FA Cup winners whilst blooding some youngsters…very astute comparison between Samways and Ceballos; if I’m not mistaken Samways had a career renaissance at Las Palmas, marking Real era Zizou out of a game and coming in for praise?”

1.25pm EST 13:25

Full-time: Arsenal 4-2 Leeds

Arsenal climb above Leeds to seize tenth though this did not feel like a mid-table match. Aubameyang takes the plaudits for his first ever Premier League treble but he was the beneficiary of some great collective attacking play. Odegaard was promising but overshadowed by Smith Rowe and Saka, who was brilliant at times. Leeds played their part but will rue some defensive howlers that cost them the match. Meslier, in their goal, had a game to forget.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gets the match ball. Photograph: Julian Finney/Reuters

Updated at 1.33pm EST

1.22pm EST 13:22

90+3 min: Leeds press on. Shackleton almost barrels through but loses the run of the ball at the vital moment.

1.21pm EST 13:21

90+2 min: Aubameyang has been excellent and it would be a blow if his gala day ended in a bad injury. He does get back on the field.

1.18pm EST 13:18

90 min: Four minutes to be added on. Aubameyang is down with wha looks like an Achilles or ankle problem after a midair collision with Ayling. It looks very painful.

Photograph: Adam Davy/Reuters

Updated at 1.28pm EST

1.17pm EST 13:17

89 min: Arsenal change. Off goes Ceballos, on comes Holding. That’s a defensive change. Ceballos has played well. He’s reinvented himself as a midfield hatchet man in the style of Vinny Samways.

1.16pm EST 13:16

87 min: Meslier redeems himself a tad with a diving save from Cedric. At the other end, Gabriel buys time by falling over under a Bamford challenge.

1.15pm EST 13:15

86 min: It’s a game of wide-open spaces. And all the better for it. Leeds have made themselves quite the entertainment franchise. Their matches are good to watch on almost every occasion. And who can say that?

1.13pm EST 13:13

85 min: Arsenal do seem to have taken some of the sting from Leeds. But Bamford gets a glimpse at goal as Ayling crosses from the byline. Luiz gets it away.

1.12pm EST 13:12

83 min: Arsenal hit the post! Saka might have been offside but there was another example of his brilliance. He carved through the Leeds defence.

1.09pm EST 13:09

82 min: Into the last ten minutes we go. Ayling is upended and the ball can be launched into the Arsenal area. Raphina can only guide the ball into Leno’s hands.

Updated at 1.10pm EST

1.08pm EST 13:08

80 min: Arsenal pushing on for another. It’s probably the safest policy. Arteta is muttering to himself once more.

1.06pm EST 13:06

78 min: Arsenal change: Off goes Odegaard, who was OK, for Elneny. That’s to shore things up though this game has a frantic quality that would be hard to lock down.

1.06pm EST 13:06

77 min: Justin Kavanagh channels Ian Duncan Smith: “Can I just send a football Valentine to Bielsa for all the fun he and his team of manbunned whirling dervishes (or whatever the hell they are!) have brought to the Premier League? Don’t go Marcelo, English football needs your brand of buccaneering if brittle brilliance. “

Marcelo Bielsa. Whirling dervish facilitator Photograph: Adam Davy/Reuters

Updated at 1.22pm EST

1.05pm EST 13:05

76 min: Aubameyang rattles the bar. That would have finished it. It didn’t go in so it’s not finished.

1.04pm EST 13:04

75 min: Arsenal ragged, and stepping back. With the players they have, best to go forward. Bamford goes on a run, and goes down in the box. There’s a penalty claim. Not much doing other than a word into Bamford’s ear from Cedric who felt the striker went down too early.

Photograph: Adam Davy/PA

Updated at 1.13pm EST

1.01pm EST 13:01

73 min: If this does blow apart, then Willian will be blamed by some. Just because he’s Willian. But that’s not happened yet. Saka is still causing problems and wins an Arsenal corner that’s eventually cleared.

1.00pm EST 13:00

72 min: Leeds a team reborn and Roberts and Costa have caused all sorts of problems. Raphina is down injured, but it looks to be a bruise to his midriff rather than anything else.

12.59pm EST 12:59

70 min: Mikel Arteta looks nervous. And well he might. He’s an Arsenal man through and through after all.

The Arsenal team from that day at Newcastle in 2011: “Szczesny ; Sagna , Koscielny , Djourou (Squillaci 48 ), Clichy ; Walcott 7 (Eboué 79 ), Wilshere , Diaby ; Fábregas , Arshavin (Rosicky 69 ), Van Persie

Can this Arsenal team write themselves into similar infamy?

12.57pm EST 12:57

Goal! Arsenal 4-2 Leeds (Costa, 68)

Well. Roberts makes a nice run, and tees up Costa who has space and time to set Arsenal sphincters twitching.

Costa scores a second for Leeds. Photograph: Catherine Ivill/Reuters

Updated at 1.02pm EST

12.54pm EST 12:54

66 min: Bamford, who has been quiet, tries to play the ball inside to Roberts. Then Raphina finds space on the left-hand side of the Arsenal box. He drags his shot wide.

12.52pm EST 12:52

64 min: Leeds win a corner and try to repeat the same trick as before: Raphina to Struijk but it’s headed away by Xhaka.

12.52pm EST 12:52

63 min: It takes Raphina rushing back to stop a charge from Bellerin. Leeds are again wide open to Arsenal’s attacks.

12.50pm EST 12:50

62 min: Off goes Smith Rowe, and on comes Willian. That wouldn’t be the most popular change among Gunners fans.

12.49pm EST 12:49

60 min: Ten years ago this month. One of the funniest games of all time.

Newcastle United 4-4 Arsenal | Premier League match report

12.47pm EST 12:47

Goal! Arsenal 4-1 Leeds (Struijk, 58)

It is raining hard in North London. Bielsa has put on a woolly hat, and the water is tipping down his glasses. He continues to prowl the sideline. But he has something to cheer – not that he will – as Pascal Struijk, climbs high above Saka to head in a corner. Game on? Memories of Cheick Tiote abound.

Pascal Struijk pulls one back for Leeds. Photograph: Simon Davies/ProSports/REX/Shutterstock

Updated at 12.52pm EST

12.44pm EST 12:44

57 min: Giancarlo Sandoval has his say: “I think it’s easy (because mostly everyone is doing it) to say that this result is down to the changes Bielsa made, but that to me just discredits that Arsenal have outpassed and outpressed Leeds like hounds. Even if Kalvin Phillips was there, he would not stop this onslaught, as Arsenal are following the blueprint (used by Chelsea and Arsenal to great effect) to beat Leeds at their own game.

12.43pm EST 12:43

55 min: Pépé and Alioski share a moment as the Leeds player leaves the field. When last these teams met, Pépé was sent off for a very stupid foul.

12.42pm EST 12:42

53 min: Leeds make a change. On comes Niall Huggins for his league debut. Alioski goes off. Big day for the young Welshman, just 20. He can compare himself to Gareth Bale, another Welshman who was brought on yesterday with his team in a hopeless position.

12.39pm EST 12:39

51 min: Well, this one is done then. Leeds have not defended at all well against an opponent that previously struggled for goals.

12.37pm EST 12:37

50 min: Raphina has a dig from distance and Leno makes a fine save though he had plenty behind the ball.

12.36pm EST 12:36

49 min: It’s fair to say that Bielsa’s half-time changes didn’t bring the desired results.

12.36pm EST 12:36

Goal! Arsenal 4-0 Leeds (Aubameyang, 47 hat-trick)

Another Saka charge, the ball comes to Smith Rowe who digs out a cross and that’s the skipper’s third, his first hat-trick in the league.

Aubameyang gets his hat-trick. Photograph: Julian Finney/Reuters

Updated at 12.40pm EST

12.34pm EST 12:34

46 min: Something of a surprise that the goalie wasn’t subbed off? A look at the first half suggested he was culpable for all three Arsenal goals. But not even Bielsa is crazy to do that.

12.33pm EST 12:33

Two Leeds changes: Off go Klich and Harrison, and on come Costa and Roberts.

12.31pm EST 12:31

Bill Hargreaves gets in touch: “Great commentary, John. Thank you. Brilliant Premier League to follow this year, with so many slips between lip and cup for the clubs towards the top of the tree. I suspect that Mikel’s Arsenal, now that some of the less well-appreciated players have been moved on, might now begin to gel?Wonder where they’ll be at the end of this and next season? Great when any club can lose to any club, though.”

12.18pm EST 12:18

Jake Lynch has been in touch: “Dark days at the Emirates, but spare a thought for the Kassam Stadium, where kick-off for the 2nd half of Oxford Utd vs Wigan Athletic has been delayed… because there’s a fire in the floodlights. Brigade attending…”

12.17pm EST 12:17

Half-time: Arsenal 3-0 Leeds

Leeds have been taken apart. Arsenal have been quicker to the ball and in possession and Leeds have had no answer to Saka in particular. Meslier, in Leeds’ goal, had a half to forget.

12.15pm EST 12:15

Goal! Arsenal 3-0 Leeds (Bellerin, 45)

Oh Leeds. They just cannot get the ball clear. Saka – again – sets it up and Arsenal play keep ball in the area before Bellerin gets the space to finish low. Meslier not great their, either.

Bellerin celebrates scoring Arsenal’s third goal with Bukayo Saka Photograph: Catherine Ivill/Reuters

Updated at 12.20pm EST

12.14pm EST 12:14

43 min: Leeds have been undone by their own mistakes. Meslier was caught in several minds by Saka. And Ayling allowed himself to get done for the first.

12.12pm EST 12:12

42 min: Saka has done all types of damage to Leeds. His alertness and speed won two penalties, and one goal.

12.11pm EST 12:11

Goal! Arsenal 2-0 Leeds (Aubameyang, 41)

He’s had a few minutes to think about how he will take a penalty against Meslier, and that delay after the previous overrule didn’t put him off. He pummelled it home.

12.10pm EST 12:10

Another penalty!

40 min: Meslier gets himself in all sorts of trouble. Saka robs him of the ball and is brought down. No doubt this time.

Meslier gives another penalty away. Photograph: Catherine Ivill/Reuters

Updated at 12.18pm EST

12.08pm EST 12:08

38 min: Odegaard has been quiet. He shows off a glimpse of his qualities in turning Harrison but is kicked for his troubles. Welcome to the PL, rookie.

12.07pm EST 12:07

36 min: Arsenal not happy about that. It looked on first glance like a penalty. On second glance it looked like a soft penalty. But still a penalty. Cooper got away with that.

12.05pm EST 12:05

No penalty!

35 min: What’s this? VAR asks referee Mr Attwell to have a look. He heads to the TV screen and sees that Saka went down softly. Hmm.

Photograph: Catherine Ivill/Reuters

Updated at 12.10pm EST

12.04pm EST 12:04

Penalty to Arsenal!

34 min: Saka surges on and Cooper is clumsy. Over he goes.

Updated at 12.04pm EST

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