Arsenal opened the scoring through Gabriel Jesus in the 35th minute after he was brought down by Ayling in the penalty box
By Kehinde Okeowo
Arsenal go eight points clear of league champions, Manchester City once again after defeating Leeds United 4-1 in a game played at the Emirates Stadium.
Prior to the encounter, second-placed Manchester City’s 4-1 victory at home to Liverpool on Saturday lunchtime had cut the gap between them and league leaders, Arsenal to five points.
Gabriel Jesus opened the scoring for the home side in the 35th minute with his first Arsenal goal since October via a first-half penalty after he was brought down by Luke Ayling in the penalty box.
Javi Gracia’s team had created the better opportunities in the opening half-hour of the contest, with Rasmus Kristensen, Crysencio Summerville and Jack Harrison all testing Aaron Ramsdale in the Arsenal goal.
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But the visitors fell further behind two minutes into the second half when Ben White converted Gabriel Martinelli’s low cross via the underside of the crossbar.
The Gunners dominated from that moment on and Jesus – recalled to the side in place of Bukayo Saka – made it 3-0 with a clinical first-time finish from Leandro Trossard’s drilled cross.
Leeds pulled a goal back in the 76th minute after a heavy deflection off Oleksandr Zinchenko from a shot from Rasmus Kristensen gave the visitor their only goal of the match.
However, Granit Xhaka’s late header from Martin Odegaard’s beautiful delivery completed the scoring in the 84th minute.
The heavy defeat leaves the White hovering a point above the relegation zone with 10 games of the campaign left to play.
Arsenal, on the other hand, regain their 8 points lead over Man City who have played a game less than the league leaders.