The future looks bright at Arsenal. Hoping for it to be “fourth time’s a charm” in their pursuit of Premier League glory, a flawless start to the new season feels imperative. It meant a home victory over newly-promoted Leeds United, in itself, was not so much a headline as it was an expectation. Instead, the stories of the day centred around a select few individuals, those that spark visions of rediscovered success.
Arsenal fans begun the afternoon on tenterhooks, waiting for the imminent confirmation of new arrival Eberechi Eze from Crystal Palace. They wouldn’t have to wait long. The Gunners’ new No 10 was unveiled to the Emirates faithful prior to kick-off to raucous reaction, returning to club he grew up playing for and supporting. To call this a homecoming, as was proclaimed over the PA, might be inaccurate – Eze was of course dumped by Arsenal as a teenager, something not fitting of a nurturing home. But as the 27-year-old calmly waved to his new fans, he let out a wry smile, almost as if to stick it to those who lost faith in his 13-year-old self all those years ago. That mistake has just cost Arsenal £60m.
Eze could well be the final piece to Mikel Arteta’s title-dreaming puzzle. He is exactly the player they need, a dribbler with creative spark who can break down the most stubborn defences. Yet his acquisition has already become something more of a necessity rather than a luxury. Martin Odegaard’s first-half substitution against Leeds followed the latest injury blow to Bukayo Saka, adding more strain to attacking options following Kai Havertz’s knee injury earlier this week. It means Eze’s role, even more now, will be multi-faceted, likely to be deployed on the left or as one two attacking No 8s – note that his more favoured position, the No 10, is rarely operated by Arteta. The need to adapt to a new system means there’ll be a learning curve to his early life in N7. But off the back off the back of an instrumental 2024/25, leading Palace to their first major trophy in history, there’s no doubt his confidence will be sky high as he begins this new chapter.
Confidence has comparatively looked an issue for a fellow new recruit. Viktor Gyokeres is another summer arrival perceived as a crucial piece to the puzzle – the presence of a proven, prolific goalscorer could be paramount to ending their 21-year wait for a league title. But their £55m man, who scored 97 goals in two years for Sporting, has admittedly shown signs of struggling to get up to speed so far.
As Arsenal searched for an opener, a mistake from Anton Stach saw the ball ricochet to Gyokeres in space on the edge of the six-yard box, a gilt-edged opportunity you’d expect a player of his calibre to tuck away. But the Swede snatched at the effort on the spin, scuffing wide with the goal gaping. It was a horror miss, one that perhaps led those inside the ground to temper expectations further after an underwhelming debut at Old Trafford last week. After all, the jump from Portugal has a history of causing stumbles – just ask Darwin Nunez.
Gyokeres’ first-half shortfalls meant the Gunners had to look to another source for goals to get things going against Leeds. Not many would have pegged right-back Jurrien Timber as the solution.
The Dutchman latched onto Declan Rice’s inswinging corner, emerging superior from a crowded six-yard box to head home and break the deadlock on 34 minutes. He then turned provider on the brink of half-time – his down-the-line through ball slipping Saka into the box for Arsenal’s talisman to fire past Lucas Perri – before adding to his own tally in the second half, turning in from a goal-mouth scramble to take the game out of sight.
So much has been made of Arteta’s need for an out-and-out No 9, but this acted as a timely reminder that potency does not always have to come from up top – something that perhaps eased the pressure on Gyokeres, who came out for the second half like a new man. Within three minutes of the restart, he burst into life, driving through Struijk and Jayden Bogle into the area before clinically drilling into the corner. A first real glimpse of the player Arsenal worked tirelessly to sign.
Leading by four against a Leeds side devoid of a response, it gave Arteta the opportunity to give Max Dowman his Premier League debut off the bench at the age of 15 years and 229 days. The second youngest debutant in league history – only behind fellow Hale End product Ethan Nwaneri – the soon-to-be year 11 pupil looked anything but out of his depth. He showed no fear of challenging those his senior, sprinting past Gabriel Gudmundsson before drawing a foul to a huge ovation. It wouldn’t be the last problem he caused for Leeds defenders, capping off a stellar cameo by winning a penalty as Stach caught his shin.
Standing over the spot was Gyokeres, who put the exclamation point on a personal performance of two contrasting halves by sending sent Perri the wrong way. There was so much to like from this Arsenal performance, and in a campaign that feels like it could well be boom or bust for the Arteta project, there is a distinct feeling that the former could prevail.
