Arsenal recover from Brighton defeat to edge past Leeds

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal came from behind to beat Leeds United 2-1 at home, avoiding a second successive Premier League defeat after a late tactical change and a decisive contribution from the substitutes.

Leeds had frustrated the champions with disciplined defending throughout the first half and took the lead 10 minutes after the interval when James Justin found the net. Riccardo Calafiori soon restored parity before Bruno Guimaraes, introduced from the bench, scored the winner in the 70th minute.

“They are extremely well-organised, they are very physical, they are committed in everything that they do,” Arteta told TNT Sports.

Arsenal had gone into the match looking to respond to their 3-0 defeat by Brighton & Hove Albion in their previous game before the lengthy international window. Their attack again lacked fluency during the opening period, despite creating promising opportunities.

“When you don’t finish the actions, and we hit some great areas in the first half to have much more end product than we did, and we lost the ball just before the last action, and when that happens and they had moments to run, they are a threat,” Arteta said.

Leeds arrived unbeaten in the league and appeared capable of extending that run after their defensive display kept Arsenal at bay. However, Calafiori’s equaliser shifted the momentum, before Arteta made a triple substitution in the 63rd minute.

Guimaraes came on alongside Jurrien Timber and Viktor Gyokeres, with the changes adding greater physical presence and attacking threat. Guimaraes then completed the turnaround seven minutes later.

“We bring a lot of leadership in those three players we brought a goal threat, we brought people who can win duels because it was very man-orientated, people that can get away from that, [and] people that can play forward and penetrate,” Arteta said.

“Against this high press, they did an incredible job.”

Arteta also praised the way Leeds attacked despite their focus on limiting Arsenal’s opportunities.

“We keep fouling them; we give them throw-ins and restarts and set pieces. They are incredible the way they attack, the belief and the conviction they have to attack the box,” he said.

The Arsenal manager had spent recent weeks without much of his squad because of international duty, leaving him to wait until the meeting with Leeds for an opportunity to put the Brighton result behind them.

“Immediately after a bad result, and through weeks without your players, you just question, ‘Okay, how are we going to be?’ We reacted incredibly well,” Arteta said.

“We really need to enjoy the victory, because we are realising how this Premier League is going to pan out.”