Arsenal have the power
Be it Drake's bizarre attempt to curse Arsenal's winning run or the sun shining over Yorkshire in mid-October, from the very off Sunday felt like it was going to be a weird day. With the winter World Cup this season promises to be one of countless novelty, but few could have predicted the genuine first that came just 90 seconds into the game.
Almost immediately after the roar of the Elland Road crowd subsided into the post-kick off buzz of wide-eyed early game excitement, lights above the stadium began to flicker as if beings from the Upside Down themselves were trying to send a message. A brief blast of overhead blackness then followed, before the TV monitors, wireless connection and big screen quickly shut down. Something was clearly wrong.
Those on the pitch didn't take long to notice, and as the ball bounced out for a Leeds throw in on the right touchline referee Chris Kavanaugh called the game to a temporary halt. Little did anyone know at the time, but this was to be the last action we would see for the next 40 minutes.
READ MORE: Every word Mikel Arteta said on VAR decisions, Arsenal game delay and Bukayo Saka
A power cut had disabled the officials' communications devices, halted the feed to VAR and disrupted goal line technology prompting mass confusion from a stadium full of people who simply didn't know what to do. Players began to knock balls around, managers called their teams over for instructions and before too long the decision was taken to bring them back into the dressing room. While inside the tunnel the idea of going old school and playing the game without any technology was being genuinely discussed, but for Mikel Arteta there were other bigger worries.
"I think we were all concerned about that because they have certain routines and that disrupts the routine," the Spaniard told football.london in his post-match press conference. With the advances in sports science elite level footballers have their days planned out the nth degree and such an unexpected disruption to that proposed major physical challenges as well as the obvious psychological ones.
With the electricity eventually back on it appeared as though Leeds came out fully charged with Arsenal having to ride their luck somewhat. Jesse Marsch's side seized the power in the game with voltaic intensity with 23 tackles alone in the first period (as per Opta). To put that into context they have averaged 22 per game so far this season which is a Premier League high.
Despite the storm though, it was a Gunners side playing on low power mode that went in ahead at the break courtesy of Bukayo Saka 's superb finish. Quite what impact the delay had on their subpar display is impossible to truly gauge, but as the game went on Arteta was left to count his luck that the Elland Road engineers had found an extra penny to put in the meter.
"It was important because VAR really important and if we played the game without it probably it would have been a different game," the Spaniard admitted after officials at Stockley Park intervened to overturn a late penalty and red card for Gabriel. The 95th minute incident proved to be the last time electrical lines would impact the game, but as news filtered through later in the day of Manchester City's defeat at Anfield it became clear that is Arsenal who now have the power in the title race.
Resplendent Ramsdale smiles through the pain
Not every game can be a fabulous free flowing attacking display. Across the course of 38 game season to expect Arsenal to play as well as they have done so far is ludicrous. A performance like this was coming and it's on days like Sunday where you really need your goalkeeper to show up and bail you out. That is exactly what Aaron Ramsdale did.
The 24-year-old came under some criticism in the early part of the campaign for perceived mistakes in the 4-2 win over Leicester and perhaps also due to a hangover from his below par end to last season. During that time he went through a period of soul searching and intense work with Inaki Cana to rediscover his best form. He now looks a far better player for it.
His eye-catching ability with the ball began to fade last campaign, but as evidenced by some superb kick outs this year he appears to got his mojo back when playing from the back. This though was not the game to focus on the work he did with his feet but rather with his hands and even some other areas of his body!
Ramsdale pulled off a superb close range stop from Pascal Struijk in the first half and was sharp in sweeping to get William Saliba out of trouble as a loose touch from the Frenchman allowed Patrick Bamford to steal in. That stop in particular gave a quite a literal meaning to the phrase 'no pain no gain' as he prevented the goal bound strike with a delicate part of his anatomy. Despite giving him a feeling of immediate queasiness the England goalkeeper admitted at full time that the overriding emotion was one of relief.
“I’m just thankful I was there today," he said after the match. "I have been very critical of myself over recent games from the start of the season where goals have gone in, and there’s questions to be answered the following day. So to help the team out today was great."
“It’s just one of those emotions where now we’ve set our bar so high, standards-wise of how we want to play, and we didn’t reach that. But the overriding emotion is elation because we got three points and a 1-0win away from home.”
With the stress of the game right up until the wire goodness knows what his poor father's heart must have felt like, but for Ramsdale it's a timely return to top form. He was bizarrely overlooked in the last round of international fixtures but will be confident of rising up the England pecking order with displays like this ahead of Qatar.
Arteta delight despite dour display
It's one of football's oldest clichés, but the best teams find a way to win ugly.
Arsenal have been on a tremendous run so far this season, but it's rare that we've seen them turn in a performance like this. There were of course mitigating circumstances.
Many of the players starting at Elland Road had been part of the gruelling slog of a 1-0 win in the Arctic circle just over 48 hours prior. Arsenal were running on empty in a game where they clearly needed a full tank to cope with a Leeds side playing a top speed, and yet they still came away with the win.
Quite how they got it spoke to the below par nature of the performance. Maybe it was that Rodrigo had studied Arsenal's attempts to switch play to Bukayo Saka this season a little too intently, but his bewildering cross field ball right into the England international's path was not exactly a product of mesmerising tactical genius but rather a moment of pure madness from the Leeds striker. Fortuitously in front the Gunners rode their luck even activated the Rob Holding back three cheat code for just third time this season late on as they looked to cling on.
After the full time whistle blew on last week's marathon victory over Liverpool, Mikel Arteta greeted the fully deserved victory with jubilant fist pumps of joy. A week on despite the almost polar opposite display the Spaniard could be seen celebrating perhaps even more vociferously as Chris Kavanaugh finally confirmed that his team had managed the same result. As he bounced joyously into the press box it was clear that Arteta was delighted with what he had seen from his side.
"We expected periods where the game would become really chaotic and we had to handle that situation," he said. "In the first half we had some really, really good moments that we should have played them and scored two or three and we didn’t and we left the game open. From the first whistle in the second half we started not at the rhythm and not making the right decisions time after time and we put ourselves in big trouble. Even in those situations though I love the resilience, the fight, the character and the courage during the game."
It's the kind of win that last season Arsenal almost certainly wouldn't have got and with the tangible evidence of development safely tucked under his arm Arteta can return to north London delighted with how his side have progressed.
Gabriel the new Granit Xhaka?
It's easy to forget in and among the chaos of the final few moments, but Gabriel was actually superb on Sunday.
While there are some days you can swim serenely through games with the elegance that the likes of William Saliba and Ben White have done for most of this season, there are others where you simply have to thrash and splash your way out of murky waters. That was exactly what Gabriel did.
The Brazilian one each and every one of his aerial duels, succeeded eight of his nine duels overall, made four clearances, four blocks, three tackles and three interceptions (as per Squawka ) in a near perfect defensive display. He also showed his leadership by enforcing high standards even with Arsenal's captain as he bellowed furiously at Martin Odegaard for giving the ball away cheaply in the build to a clearance he had had to make from Luis Sinisterra's goal bound shot. It was a performance that exhibited the very best of his capabilities but, with seconds to go in the match he also showed off some of the very worst.
As Patrick Bamford careered into the 24-year-old, he retaliated by kicking out in a flash of petulance that saw him momentarily give away a potentially fatal penalty and receive a red card. VAR intervened, but this incident was demonstrative of the tight rope Gabriel has walked between magnificence and madness this season.
Many have criticised him for the errors he has made in games against Fulham, Tottenham and Liverpool and for all the excellence that he is capable of, these mistakes demonstrate the propensity for rashness that exists in his game. However, such tunnel visionned focus on the faults blind us to days like Sunday where he exhibits what he brings to the team.
The Brazilian has now become a source of immense debate among the Arsenal fanbase as they engage in their favoured pass time of squad building for the future. Such conversations are reminiscent of those had over another player who had until recently divided the Gunners fanbase down the middle for many years.
With his animated personality, willingness to scrap and moments of hot-headedness there are undoubted parallels between Gabriel and Granit Xhaka. The Swiss midfielder had his staunch defenders, but until recently he had plenty of critics too.
Gabriel appears to be destined to take over the role as this lightning rod for discussion among the Arsenal supporters now which perhaps feels a little harsh. The Gunners need players like him to get them through the days when things aren't going so smoothly, and Sunday was yet another reminder of exactly that.
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