Noni Madueke shone brightly as Arsenal made an extension of their lead at the top of the Premier League table to seven points as they thrashed Leeds United 4-0, to record their first league win in four Premier League matches.
Madueke was not supposed to start the match and was a late replacement for winger Bukayo Saka, who limped out of the warm-up with a hip problem.
And Madueke, who was to play the role of back-up for most of this season, took hia opportunity to shine as he curled in an excellent cross for Martin Zubimendi to head Arsenal in front.
Leeds had started the game well but Arsenal pinned them back for large parts of the first period, winning a number of corners and throw-ins to increase pressure on the Leeds defence.
It was from one of these corners that Arsenal doubled the lead when Madueke’s curling delivery caught out goalkeeper Karl Darlow and he could only punch the ball into his own net.
Viktor Gyokeres then made sure it was a comfortable end to the game when he fought to get on the end of Gabriel Martinelli’s inviting cross to make it 3-0 before substitute Gabriel Jesus scored a fourth late on.
The expectation was on Arsenal to deliver a result coming into this match after their recent form, but they recorded an important win, to put pressure on their title rivals, Manchester City and Aston Villa, who are in action onSunday.
