Arsenal vs Leeds United, summary: Jesus goals, score, goals & highlights | Premier League 22/23

Signing off...

OK, guys, that's all from myself today!

Thank you for following the AS USA live coverage of the Premier League!

Joe

Full-time report:

Well, although the scoreline may flatter Arsenal slightly, the difference between the two teams was evident from the off. The home side dominated the ball and took advantage of every inch of space Leeds afforded them. 

The penalty came at the worst time possible for Leeds, who had defended solidly but went into the half-time break a goal down. If the first half ended badly for Gracia's side then the second started even worse: they were 2-0 down after less than 5 minutes into the second period when Ayling allowed Martinelli to find White with a low cross.

At this point, Leeds crumbled and Arsenal pounced, scoring a third goal from a lovely move between Jesus and Trossard. Many thought that was game over until Kristensen got one back for the visitors to give the away fans some hope.

But Xhaka soon silenced the Leeds fans after the tired Leeds players allowed Ødegaard enough time and space to play a delightful cross to Xhaka who headed past Meslier to keep Arsenal's watertight lead at the top.

AND THAT'S ALL!

Arsenal win a corner and spend 45 seconds deciding on who wants to take it. 

Bamford booked after being penalised 3 times in 3 minutes for various fouls.

4 added minutes.

The home side are now employing various tactics to slow down the play and take advantage of the little time that is left. Timewasting, you might call it. 

They're 4-1 up, fair enough.

Harrison OFF

Bamford ON

We're back underway.

For the first time in 85 minutes, Martin Ødegaard is left with too much space.

He plays a lovely cross from a central area over the top of the Leeds defence for Xhaka to head past Meslier. 

GAME OVER

Arsenal suddenly find their feet and keep the ball away from Leeds in a sequence that lasted at least 30 passes around the back line.

Gracia's side continue to sit off and wait for their moment. 

We're into the final ten minutes. Will we see some late drama?

Lots of loose balls from both sides since the Leeds goal; Arsenal look nervous and Leeds look desperate. 

Nobody can keep possession. 

Leeds push as the game is suddenly given life. They win a corner after throwing all their attacking might at the home team as soon as they kick off. 

Arsenal defend well.

Koch and Summerville OFF

Cooper and Rutter ON

The Arsenal fans, after a quiet few minutes, have found their singing voices and are giving us a fantastically well-rehearsed rendition of "ARSENAL! ARSENAL!" 

Twenty minutes to go; Arsenal in complete control as things stand. Will we see any more Premier League comeback madness?

Leeds attack with Harrison and Summerville, and Ben White brings down the latter with a strong challenge. He's furious but is lucky the referee hasn't shown him a card.

Rodrigo and McKennie ON

Sinisterra and Aaronson OFF

CHANCE FOR LEEDS!

Aaronson does well again, this time on the left, to work the ball past Holding and hit a low cross to Kristensen, who skies a shot over the bar.

HUGE SAVE FROM RAMSDALE!

A slow buildup from Leeds down the right ended with Aaronson inside the box. The American touch a nice touch through the middle of the Arsenal defenders but his chipped effort was saved by Ramsdale.

Leeds are still chasing shadows; they have had nothing this half. 

Gabriel Jesus and Partey OFF

Saka and Jorginho ON

CHANCE! ARSENAL!

Martinelli almost heads in after an Arsenal corner from the left. Saved by Meslier.

Gabriel slides a pass into Trossard who runs the ball out wide towards the right.

The striker follows him into the box, making a run between the centre-backs and gets on the end of the perfect cross from the Belgian.

Leeds are falling apart.

The Arsenal crowd are in full flow and are going through every page in the song book this sfternoon.

Luis Sinisterra is penalised for a foul and says some very naughty Spanish words to the referee as the camera zooms in on his face. 

Arsenal are cruising now, pinging the ball in the Leeds half with ease.

The away side continue to chase the ball, and the Arsenal shadows, tiring themselves out.

Martinelli races away again; Ayling is nowhere to be seen. It. could get messy down Leeds' right side. 

Arsenal started the half incredibly strongly: Martinelli swerved past Luke Ayling and hit a low cross to the far post where Ben White popped up and crashed the ball into the roof of the net!

And we're off for the second half!

Arsenal kick us off. No changes for either side.

The players are back out for the second half!

Martinelli madness!

He's caused havoc for 45 minutes, skinning both Ayling and Koch, even forcing the latter into a booking towards the end of the half.

More goals for Jesus...

And it's not even Jesus' special weekend yet!

Half time report:

For 25 minutes or so, not much happened. Both teams were cancelling each other out and the game looked like an interesting tactical battle. 

Then came the chaos.

A flurry of chances for both sides set fire to the pitch and the climax of the half came when Ayling made contact with Jesus' knee inside the box, causing referee Darren England to call a very weak penalty.

Gabirel himself send Meslier the wrong way to give Arsenal a narrow lead at the break.

As for Arsenal's defending, Summerville has given them a lot of problems and the away side have caused trouble in different moments. Let's see if anything changes in the second half.

Half-time!

Summerville, who has been Leeds' biggest threat, makes it into the box. Arsenal surround him and clear the ball away.

3 addedminutes.

Martinelli down.

Kochbooked after bringing down Martinelli. 

We're back underway and Ødegaard is ØK.

Ødegaard is down after a challenge from Firpo.

HUGE CHANCE FOR ARSENAL!

The home side counter and Meslier comes flying out to clear the ball.

He makes contact with the ball but it's a poorclearance and Martinelli hits the volley towards goal as the keeper scrambles back.

Ayling is on hand to sweep up but a poor touch almost puts the ball in the net.

Chaos.

Danger for Leeds as Arsenal counter with Martinelli, who hits a rebounded shot into the melted mass of Leeds United defenders inside the box.

As things stand:

Arsenal - 72 points

ManCity - 64 points

We're back underway.

The Brazilian put the ball down the middle as Meslier jumped out of the way.

Jesus steps up...

But it's Jesus who will take the kick!

Ødegaard with the ball in his hands...

And it's given!

VAR is taking a look.

Ayling made contact with Jesus' knee. Incredibly soft but you know how these things go.

Ayling brings down Jesus!

Penalty to Arsenal!!!

I'm telling you, the curse of the commentator is real

HUGE CHANCE FOR LEEDS!

Summerville lays off for Harrison on the left and the ex-City winger fires a rocket at the palms of Ramsdale!

Half chance for Arsenal as Jesus can't quite get on the end of a Zinchenko cross. Something tells me his big weekend is next week.

HUGE CHANCE FOR LEEDS!!!

I told you!

Some fantastic passing from Leeds ends with a one-two between Roca and Summerville inside the Arsenal box. The Spaniard flicks the ball back to Summerville on the left and the winger fires a low show to Rasmdale that is well saved.

It has been quite a frustrating game for both teams so far, with a few half chances and even less moments of excitement.*

*I'm saying this so, as always, exactly the opposite thing happens immediately as I press send...

MartinØdegaard is being passed by the Leeds players around like a newborn baby in a quite incredible marking plan.

Martinelli sends Ayling for an (incredibly expensive) Emirates hot dog and plays a dangerous ball towards Meslier that is blocked by Koch.

OK, it was given as offside.

Leeds broke with Summerville and Aaronson, who played a ball into the box that pinballed off the faces of 2 defenders and a Leeds attacker before landing at the feet of Sinisterra.

The Colombian back-heeled the ball towards goal and Ramsdale got down well to save.

HUGE SAVE FROM RAMSDALE!

Rasmus Kristensen is playing a very interesting role for Leeds, acting as both a centre-midfielder and centre-back. And right midfielder. And second striker. 

I think he's even wearing goalkeeper gloves.

Free-kick to Arsenal on the left; Ødegaard to cross.

Well defended by Leeds.

Arsenal are pressing Leeds like rabid dogs as the away side try their luck at passing the ball out from the back. 

Leeds are having no luck in finding space and are simply hoofing the ball into the air.

LEEDS CHANCE!

A free-kick is whizzed in from Aaronson on the right and Robin Koch can't quite get his full head on the ball as it zooms across the box.

HUGE CHANCE FOR ARSENAL!

Leeds push up which gives Arsenal space to attack. The ball falls to Zinchencko on the left who slides inside to Martinelli. The cross sails over Koch and lands on Gabriel Jesus' head but his shot flies over!

Leeds have had a few half breaks but it's been 99% Arsenal probing balls into the away side's box.

The game plan is easy to see for both sides: Arsenal are having the lion's share of the ball while Leeds sit off and wait for the right moment to break. 

Arsenal are passing around the Leeds block that is a back line of up to 6 players plus a tightly-packed midfield line.

Leeds break after some sustained Arsenal possession; Sinisterra plays to Summerville who runs all the way down the left side before losing the ball.

He had Harrison to his right who was furious not to get the ball from the Dutch winger.

So, Leeds are indeed going with a 4-2-3-1 with Kristensen next to Roca in the middle of the pitch. 

He's back up and is going to try and continue.

Xhakaisdown holding his knee....

What a crazy start to the game...

Now Arsenal attack!

Martinelli almost gets a shot on target! It is blocked by Robin Koch after a bad clearance from Ayling.

Kristensen had the earlier shot for Leeds from a long ball direct from kick-off. 

And Ramsdale saves instantly!

And we're off!

Leeds get us going from right to left.

Here we go!

The teams are out on the pitch!

A reminder of the two starting XIs:

Arsenal XI: 

Ramsdale; White, Holding, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Partey; Trossard, Odegaard, Xhaka, Martinelli; Jesus

Leeds XI:

Meslier; Ayling, Koch, Struijk, Firpo; Kristensen, Roca; Summerville, Aaronson, Harrison, Sinisterra

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Here's some reading before the game kicks off; Will has done an excellent dive into just how much money goes into paying football agents. The results are shocking, but not surprising.

Fifteen minutes to go!

The players are finishing their warmup routines and are getting ready tohead back down the tunnel for the final team talks before kick-off!

The Colombian is back!

Luis Sinisterra's first season at Leeds has been a huge struggle due to constant injury, but he is in the XI today and might just make the difference for Gracia's side!

Want to watch the game?

Remember, you can watch Arsenal vs Leeds live on FuboTV.

As for Leeds...

If you look at the position of Leeds, in 14th, you may think that they are outside the relegation battle, fighting in mid-table. But you'd be very wrong.

Leeds have 26 points but are only 2 from the relegation zone and just 3 off the bottom. This year, the battle for survival is going down to the wire.

Top of the lot:

I know I said Leeds are the best team in the league, but, believe it or not, it's not entirely true.

At the moment, it's Arsenal who have a big lead over City at the top (who are winning 4-1 against Liverpool as I type), and a result against a potentially very defensive Leeds is the only way of maintaining it.

Will Leeds fans being saying gracias to Javi Gracia after the game?

If it is Javi Gracia's normal 4-2-3-1, Leeds might line up something like this:

Meslier

Ayling  - Koch - Struijk - Firpo

Roca - Kristensen

Harrison - Sinisterra - Aaronson

Summerville

How do things look in Manchester?

Eek... Liverpool fans, look away NOW. 

Manchester are absolutely obliterating Liverpool, and they are Haaland-less. The City fans are currently shouting olé as Klopp's side struggle to retrieve the ball. Arsenal, the ball is in your court.

Jesus is back before Easter weekend!

Ramsdale

White - Holding - Gabriel - Zinchenko

Partey - Xhaka

Martinelli - Ødegaard - Trossard

Jesus

Remember, you can watch Arsenal vs Leeds live on FuboTV.

Team news!

Meslier, Ayling, Koch, Struijk, Firpo, Kristensen, Roca, Harrison, Aaronson, Summerville, Sinisterra

I'm sorry but I have no idea what formation this is.

The teams are here!

We've got no starting XIs just yet, but here are the Leeds players checking out the luscious Emirates pitch (mmmmmm...*drool face*).

You may have noticed on my live coverage before of Arsenal games, that I have a slight obsession with the grass at this stadium.

Yes, the real, football grass. I don't know what you were thinking. 

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Arsenal vs Leeds: Times, how to watch on TV, stream online | Premier League

And, if you'd like to follow the game with your eyes as well as with your, erm, eyes on the text coverage, then check out this guide on how to watch the match live on TV or online. 

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As the weeks tick on, the elephant in the room gets bigger and bigger - can Arsenal actually do it? Can they beat the league-eating machine that is Manchester City?

Well, Roddy has got his Rothman's Football Yearbook collection out and had a look at the odds of a recovery mission for City. It's a great look back at some of the best Premier League comebacks. Agüeroooooooooooooo....

Team news: Arsenal

Thomas Partey was back in training after missing out on Ghana's game during the week.

Left-back Kieran Tierney is also back in contention after overcoming a calf injury, meaning Saliba is the only player who is set to miss out; he has a back issue.

Team news: Leeds United

So, the international break gave Leeds players a hearty dose of the dreaded FIFA virus: Max Wöber, Tyler Adams and Willy Gnonto - arguably Leeds' most influential players - all suffered injuries during the week.

I'm just joking, of course. League leaders Arsenal host lowly Leeds in a clash that a lot of fans on both sides are seeing as a foregone conclusion, but we know the Premier League rarely plays ball...

Gooood morning, afternoon or evening wherever you are in the world and welcome to the AS USA live coverage of today's Premier League treat. 

It's Joe here and I'll be guiding you through all the laughter and tears of the day as the Premier League's best team plays top of the league.