rsenal continued their impressive form in the Premier League as they established an eight-point lead at the top of the table with a convincing 4-1 win over Leeds United on Saturday.
Manchester City’s victory over Liverpool had narrowed Arsenal’s lead to five points earlier in the day, but Mikel Arteta’s men showed no signs of feeling the pressure as they comfortably cruised to a seventh consecutive league victory.
Gabriel Jesus was the standout performer for Arsenal as he replaced the injured Bukayo Saka in the starting lineup and scored two goals to help his team secure a crucial win.
The Brazilian striker had not scored since October but ended his goal drought in the first half by converting a penalty to give Arsenal the lead.
Ben White doubled Arsenal’s advantage early in the second half before Jesus scored his second goal with a clinical finish to seal the victory. Leeds did manage to pull one back through Rasmus Kristensen, but Granit Xhaka’s late header ensured that Arsenal would take all three points.
Arteta has done an excellent job of transforming Arsenal into a cohesive and hard-working unit that is greater than the sum of its parts. The Gunners have responded brilliantly after surrendering top spot to Manchester City in February and have shown a maturity and composure that has been missing in previous seasons.
Arsenal still have to travel to Manchester to face City later this month and also have tricky away fixtures against Liverpool and West Ham coming up. However, with the title race firmly in their hands, Arteta’s side will be confident of securing their first Premier League title since 2004.
Leeds, who have not beaten Arsenal since 2003, are hovering just one point above the relegation zone and will need to start picking up points quickly if they are to avoid the drop.
