Bukayo Saka’s first-half goal is enough for the Gunners to get past a determined Leeds side after Patrick Bamford sends a penalty wide and VAR overturned another late penalty
Arsenal survived a late scare to move four points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table with a gritty win over Leeds United which underlined their title credentials on Sunday.
With City not in action against Liverpool until 4.30pm, the hard-fought narrow victory, their ninth of 10 league games this season, was exactly what the doctor ordered – but it was far from straightforward.
After a lengthy delay caused by a power outage at Elland Road, Arsenal took the lead through the in-form Bukayo Saka. Played in by Martin Odegaard, Saka was not phased by a tight angle, blasting into the roof of the net to score for the third straight Arsenal game and make it 1-0.
Leeds pressed and harried the Gunners throughout and looked dangerous, particularly through Luis Sinisterra, but it took until after the break for the game to turn. Patrick Bamford’s introduction gave them a focal point and the home side pinned Arsenal in.
Leeds United’s Premier League game against Arsenal was halted after 23 seconds of play because of a power cut at Elland Road.
Referee Chris Kavanagh lost communication with the video assistant referee officials.
Goalline technology was down too.
With players standing around and fans not knowing what was happening, Kavanagh spoke with both managers, Leeds’ Jesse Marsch and Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta, on the touchline.
An announcement inside the stadium said there had been a “power cut”, before Kavanagh led the two sets of players off the pitch after a wait of around 12 minutes.
The players and officials returned to the pitch around 20 minutes later for a warm-up, before the 14:00 BST kick-off resumed at 14:40.
