Arsenal came from behind to beat Leeds United 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium to draw level on 15 points at the top of the Premier League with Manchester City, as substitute Bruno Guimaraes came off the bench to score the winner and hand Daniel Farke’s side their first league defeat of the season, a day before City make the trip to Anfield to take on Liverpool.

Farke’s midfield trap frustrates Arsenal

Arsenal were not restricted in their build-up, but they couldn’t find, or pull off, the pass and movement mechanisms needed to progress into the final third with clear enough sights of goal, and so most of their possession took on a horseshoe shape, winding the ball from wide to centre to wide to centre without ever really getting in behind.

Farke had set his team up to sit in the middle third and restrict access to central areas through a 2-3 trap in midfield, where any ball played into, or diagonally across, that zone saw the receiver immediately challenged by a tight marker. If Arsenal switched it wide with a long ball, or the movement of their attackers & one or both full-backs meant the back line had to either retreat or be played through, Leeds morphed into a 5-4-1, with Gudmundsson and Bogle tucking into the defence, and with the half-spaces and centre screened by a Leeds midfielder, plus Okafor and Stach, vertical passing was nigh on impossible without risking a turnover.

The clearest Arsenal chance of the half was a Kai Havertz header nodded down into Trafford’s waiting hands, the pace taken almost entirely off the cross as the German had to stagger his run and check his momentum to get onto it. Leeds, by contrast, had more space to attack on the counter in Arsenal’s half, and David Raya was the busier goalkeeper, parrying three close-range strikes before the break.

Two Leeds defenders strike, Arsenal full-backs reply

It was two of the visitors’ defenders who combined to break the deadlock nine minutes after the restart, as Leeds had threatened to all through the first half. Gudmundsson worked a one-two with Okafor down the left and his cross found James Justin at the back post, where the Leeds full-back volleyed home for 0-1, and the Emirates went flat.

Arsenal answered quickly, and, funnily enough, through both of their own full-backs. On 61 minutes Ben White headed the ball back across goal for Riccardo Calafiori to volley home for 1-1, and with the game level, the changes came, as they had to.

Two minutes later, Arteta swapped his false nine for a pure target man, Viktor Gyökeres replacing Havertz, while Jurrien Timber came on for White and Bruno Guimarães replaced Myles Lewis-Skelly. The lift was immediate. The intensity of movement and the physicality the substitutes brought gave Arsenal the platform to progress under pressure, and for the first time all afternoon Leeds’ defenders were being forced back towards their own goal rather than stepping out to meet the ball.

The winner came from exactly that. On 69 minutes Arsenal broke forward in a transition surge, players racing into the box from midfield, and Declan Rice’s delicate flick into the centre found Bruno waiting to pass it into the bottom corner for 2-1.

Leeds threw on Harry Wilson, Brenden Aaronson and Felix Nmecha to find a way back, but Arsenal saw the game out, with Piero Hincapié on for Calafiori late on to shore up the left.

Arsenal beat Leeds, now Anfield decides the gap at the top

It took a change of personnel rather than a change of plan, but Arsenal beat Leeds by turning Farke’s compact, disciplined block into a side defending its own box, and the three points take them to 15, level with Manchester City, who stay top on goal difference. Leeds can feel aggrieved to lose an unbeaten run they defended so well for an hour, but there was no stopping the momentum once Arteta’s bench arrived.

So the race starts on Arsenal’s terms for now. Can Liverpool do them a favour at Anfield tomorrow, or will City restore the gap straight away?

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