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| Gabriel Jesus of Arsenal celebrates with Martin Odegaard after scoring the opening goal from the penalty spot during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Leeds United at Emirates Stadium on April 1, 2023 in London, United Kingdom. |
Gabriel Jesus scored his first Arsenal goals since October as the Gunners restored their eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League with a comfortable win over Leeds.
Second-placed Manchester City’s victory at home to Liverpool on Saturday lunchtime had cut the gap to five points, but Jesus’s first-half penalty – awarded for Luke Ayling’s mistimed challenge on the Brazilian – put Mikel Arteta’s side in front just after the half-hour mark.
Leeds had created the better opportunities in the opening half hour of the contest, with Rasmus Kristensen, Crysencio Summerville and Jack Harrison all testing home keeper Aaron Ramsdale.
But they fell further behind two minutes into the second half when Ben White converted Gabriel Martinelli’s low cross via the underside of the crossbar.
Arsenal 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.
Rasmus Kristensen pulled a goal back for Leeds via a heavy deflection off Oleksandr Zinchenko, but Granit Xhaka’s late header from Martin Odegaard’s delivery completed the scoring with six minutes remaining.
The defeat leaves Javi Gracia’s team hovering a point above the relegation zone with 10 games of the campaign left to play.
