Match Recap: Arsenal 2-1 Leeds United

Leeds United dropped into the relegation zone after defeat away at Arsenal.

It was a disastrous start for the away side as Illan Meslier mis-controlled Diego Llorente’s pass, opening room for Eddie Nketiah to prod the ball past the Frenchman and into the net.

Nketiah quickly grabbed his second goal on 10 minutes as Martinelli opened up room on the left before cutting the ball inside for Nketiah to somehow twist his body around the ball, finding the bottom right corner with an impressive finish.

While Arsenal kept pushing, it went from bad to worse for Leeds as Luke Ayling was sent off for a horrible challenge on Martinelli. Having protested that his Brazilian opponent was offside, he flew into Martinelli two-footed and out of control, luckily not injuring the winger, but managing to get himself suspended for the rest of the season.

Leeds got a goal back on 67 minutes from their first corner, and first attempt of the game. Phillips’ ball in was flicked on by Firpo, finding Llorente completely unmarked at the back stick, and his finish from a tight angle was excellent.

But it wasn’t enough, and The Whites barely managed to break into the box again for the rest of the match. One positive point however was the performance of young Lewis Bate in the second half who, considering the circumstances, always wanted the ball and was prepared to make mistakes and take risks to try to bring the team forward.