Gabriel Jesus made his long awaited comeback to the Arsenal lineup as he scored his first goals for six months. Arsenal maintained control of the Premier League title race with a 4-1 defeat of relegation-threatened Leeds United on Saturday.
Jesus, starting a league game for the first time since returning from a knee injury last month, converted a 35th-minute penalty after being clipped in the box by a clumsy Luke Ayling challenge.
Ben White doubled Arsenal’s advantage shortly after the break from Gabriel Martinelli’s pass, before Jesus, signed from Manchester City last summer, struck again from close range in the 55th minute to put the gunners in full control of proceedings.
Leeds had troubled Arsenal in the opening period but once Jesus put the hosts ahead it was relatively plain sailing as they never looked in doubt to restore their eight-point lead over champions Man City, who were hot on their heels after thumping Liverpool 4-1 earlier in the day.
The visitors did raise a few jitters in the home crowd when Rasmus Kristensen’s deflected shot gave Leeds a 76th-minute lifeline but Granit Xhaka’s header in the 84th minute secured another vital three points in Arsenal’s quest for a first league title since 2004.
Arsenal’s seventh successive league win moved them to 72 points from 29 games with City, who still have to play the London club at home, on 64 having, played one game less.
Leeds, on the other hand, remain in a precarious position in 16th place with 26 points, a point above 18th-placed Leicester City. The relegation battle this season is also one to keep an eye on, with almost the entirety of the bottom half of the table being involved in the fight to beat the drop, and any 3 out of them can still end up going down.
Arsenal fans won’t be concerned with that one bit though, and another near perfect evening in North London only further reinforces the fans’ beliefs that this may well be their year.
