Arsenal sealed their second successive victory in the new season of EPL when they defeated newly promoted Leeds United 5-0 at the Emirates Stadium yesterday. Despite full back Jurien Timber and recently signed striker Viktor Gyökeres scoring twice, the triumph was overshadowed by injuries to skipper Martin Odegaard and his deputy and talismanic winger Bukayo Saka.
Viktor Gyokeres’ first @Arsenal goal pic.twitter.com/JzZ58QfanP
— Premier League (@premierleague) August 23, 2025
Just before the kick off, the afternoon at north London began with a bang as much awaited arrival of attacking midfielder Eberechi Eze was announced and the Englishman was presented in front of the home crowd.
Arsenal started in their usual 4-3-3 formation with the same line of defence and midfield that defeated Manchester United last weekend with only one change in the left wing as Mikel Arteta preferred to give Noni Madueke his first start of the season, dropping Gabriel Martinelli to the bench.
The visitors also started with a similar set up with Gnonto, Piroe and James upfront supported by Stach, Gruev and Tanaka in the midfield.
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The first real chance of the game came to Arsenal in the 16th minute when Gyökeres got inside the box and only had the keeper to beat, but the Swedish forward lashed his shot well wide of the left post. Just four minutes later, the visitors got a great opportunity to open the scoring. Pascal Struijk timed his jump superbly when he leaped high to meet a precise cross from the corner, directing his towering header right under the bar, but the gunner’s custodian David Raya denied him with a miraculous save.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 34th minute when a slicing header from Jurien Timber from a Declan Rice corner found the right side of the net. However, in the 38th minute, the home side’s joy was short-lived when Mikel Arteta was forced to make an unplanned substitution as Martin Odegaard suffered a shoulder injury and Ethan Nwaneri came to replace him.
On the brink of half time, Arsenal doubled their lead thanks to Bukayo Saka’s right footed strike from close range after an assist from Timber.
A couple of minutes played into the second half, Viktor Gyökeres opened his account with an amazing individual effort from inside the penalty area. He sent the ball precisely into the bottom left corner and made the score line 3-0. Timber scored his second of the afternoon when the Dutchman pounced on a loose ball inside the box and beat the goalkeeper with a shot into the middle of the net. After a VAR check the goal was eventually allowed by referee Jarred Gillett.
Both the managers introduced fresh pair of legs in the final quarter of the match to make further impact on the score line. With a comfortable lead looking surely unassailable, Mikel Arteta gave 15 years old Max Dowman his league debut to replace Madueke. Any time he got on the ball, fans were out of their seats as his teammates looked to get him consistently involved. The exciting talent won a penalty deep into stoppage time, which Gyökeres dispatched for his second of the day.
The Gunners secured successive clean sheets and an overall comfortable victory, though ears await hopeful updates on two key players while eyes turn to a trip to Anfield next weekend.
Meanwhile, in the other fixtures of yesterday, Manchester City lost 2-0 at home to Tottenham while Brentford, Burnley and Bournemouth secured home victories against Aston Villa, Sunderland and Wolves respectively.
