3 positives & negatives from the 4-1 rout against Leeds United

After Leeds United initially put Arsenal under pressure, the Gunners eventually eased to a 4-1 home victory thanks to a brace from star striker Gabriel Jesus. 

In the first half particularly, the away side were very impressive – they defended brilliantly and looked incredibly dangerous on the break. In fact, had they been more clinical in front of goal, Mikel Arteta’s men could very well have found themselves behind at the Emirates.

However, after Jesus tucked away his penalty following a trademark dazzling run, the tone was set and the Gunners turned on the style.

3 positives and negatives from 4-1 Leeds United win

Positive #1: Gabriel Jesus back among the goals

For the vast majority of Gooners, Jesus’ barren run in front of goal was more than mitigated by the impact he has on the side through his pressing, movement and link-up play, but, he has been criticised for his lack of goals by certain sections of the media. After all, when looking at stats alone, Jesus had previously not scored since October.

Therefore, as much as to silence the doubters, his two goals in this game would have been incredibly important to give him that confidence in front of goal that he displayed at the start of the season.

He was keen to thank the fans for their support this campaign after the match.

"“I just want to say thank you to them for supporting me until the end. It’s not easy when you’re seeing your striker not scoring goals but they always support me.”"

Jesus is a terrific player even when he is not scoring, but when he adds goals into his game, on top of his aforementioned skillset, he becomes truly frightening.

Negative #1: No clean sheet

One of the only things that could have made this performance better would have been a clean sheet. Goal difference can, and has, decided title races in the past, and every goal we concede between now and the end of the season makes it more difficult for us to better Manchester City in this area.

It is also frustrating from a purely defensive point of view given that we have now kept just one clean sheet in our last five games in all competitions. Our defensive solidity has been one of our greatest assets this season, but we are slowly becoming easier to create chances against.

In this game, we were already three goals to the good by the time we conceded, but we must eradicate our leakiness at the back moving forward – especially against the tougher sides in the league.

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