Premier League: Arsenal 1 - Leeds United 0 - Gunners win in a controversial match

Despite Patrick Bamford missing a penalty in the second half, Arsenal could keep their Premier League advantage thanks to a goal from Bukayo Saka in a 1-0 victory at Leeds.

There is still a long way to go for Mikel Arteta's class of 2022, but another victory like this one suggests they may be capable of challenging for a first title since the glory days at Highbury. Not even the best teams of Arsene Wenger's era could win nine of their first ten games in the league.

After only 60 seconds of play, the game was delayed for 40 minutes due to a power outage. The game, decided mainly by video assistant referees, nearly went ahead without video review.

In 22 minutes, Arsenal nearly scored when Martin Odegaard played in Gabriel Jesus with a sublime move, but the Brazilian shot high from a tight angle.

Arsenal scored first on a goal by Bukayo Saka after 35 minutes, despite opportunities for both teams in the first half.

After charging forward and combining with Martin Odegaard, Saka blasted an impressive right-footed finish past Illan Meslier after a fortunate bounce off Rodrigo Monero's cross-field play.

Leeds thought they had grabbed the lead just after halftime through Patrick Bamford, but the striker was called for a foul on Gabriel in the buildup, nullifying the goal.

On the hour mark, Bamford was involved again as Leeds was awarded a penalty after William Saliba was called for handling the ball (Kavanagh checked VAR on the sideline). The Leeds forward had an opportunity to tie the score, but he missed the target.

Although Arsenal sat more profound, Bamford and Leeds kept causing issues, and the halftime replacement found himself in the middle of another argument.

In added time, VAR was used again when Arsenal gave up a penalty, and Gabriel was sent off for a rough tackle on Bamford, but the referee consulted the screen and ruled a foul on Arsenal instead.

There was a lot of tension in the last minutes, but the Gunners hung on to win and regain first place. For Leeds, another loss cements their position in the Premier League relegation battle since they have not won a game since August.

Mikel Arteta on Arsenal's controversial win

"We are not used to that and have to adapt, and it was important because VAR was really important, and if we played without it, it would have been a different game," Arteta mentioned as he lauded his team's resiliency in crucial moments on Sunday afternoon, exceptionally since they had just returned from a match in northern Norway for the Europa League against Bodo/Glimt less than 48 hours before.

"There were some players who were really struggling on Thursday night, we spent Thursday night in Norway, to then come to Leeds and win both games away from home? Big credit to the players and shows how we are as a team. You have to be able to win in any context."

With this win, Mikel Arteta and Arsenal F.C. are four points ahead of Manchester City F.C., who dropped to second place after losing to Liverpool by 1-0 on Super Sunday.