Leeds have only been truly outclassed in two games this season, and both of them have been against Arsenal. In most of the other games we’ve lost we’ve at least been competitive, even against the other contenders for the title.
When our manager spoke to the BBC after the game he seemed keen to shrug off this defeat. "Arsenal are top of the league for a reason, they deserved to win this game. Out of the game, they didn't have many chances in the first half. We gave away too many set pieces. If you concede two goals against Arsenal like this, it is a long afternoon. There's no need to score an own goal”.
"If you have Gyokeres and Jesus, they are able to punish you and this happened today. Their quality today was too good and we have to accept it. We won't dwell on this game. It was always a difficult game. Today you have to show they have shown their quality. We will put this game to bed quickly and concentrate on the upcoming tasks."
Whilst it’s true that the two games against the Gunners ‘won’t define our season’, there are still questions to be asked about why we have succumbed so easily both times. Whilst there is no shame in losing to the best team in the country at present, we should still be concerned about the margin of the two defeats.
Perhaps Arsenal have had the Indian sign over us because a lot of our play this season has depended on our physical presence and doing a lot of hard running, but Arsenal have the players who can match us in that regard, which allows their superior quality to make the difference.
And of course, we didn’t help ourselves by making a number of defensive errors throughout the game. The first goal came when an inswinging cross from Madueke found Zubemendi in far too much space, and he simply nodded the ball past Darlow to put the visitors in front. But much worse was to follow for the second goal.
It was another inswinging ball from Madueke, this time from a corner, to where Calvert-Lewin was stationed at the near post, with instructions to head it away from danger. But before he’d managed to do that Darlow was jumping over the top of him, and the two just got in each other’s way as the ball ended up in the net.
All of which has reopened the debate over who should be our first choice keeper, or even if we should have signed another one on the final day of the transfer window, as some think that none of our current keepers are good enough. We returned to a back four after the break, and did at least get to the 69th minute before suffering any further damage.
And that owed much to some fine defending from Rodon after Gyökeres was put through on goal, getting across to make a last ditch block as the striker was shaping up to chip the ball over Darlow. But the third goal came after Struijk dived into a rash challenge on Martinelli on our left, and probably would have got booked if he’d connected.
He should have accepted he wasn’t going to get there in time to make a tackle and stayed on his feet to concentrate of blocking the cross. Instead the Arsenal man took the opportunity to skip past Struijk, and in the centre Gyökeres got goal side of Bogle to steer the ball home. After that the Swede went off, and Gabriel Jesus came on to remind us that he’s still around after his latest injury.
Darlow partially redeemed himself after his earlier effort when he reacted well to tip a Jesus header over the bar. But the Brazilian wasn’t to be denied and he did get his goal in the 86th minute, after turning Struijk inside and out to make space for his shot, which he curled into the far corner of the net to give Darlow no chance.
In the midst of all this we produced two half-decent chances of our own, one from Ampadu early on which wasn’t that far over the bar, and a header from Struijk which was on target, but lacked the power to trouble Raya. The one saving grace is that the other results of the weekend were quite favourable.
It’s not very often that we’re cheering a stirring Chelsea comeback (did it leave you feeling dirty and used?) but their eventual 3-2 maintained our margin over the dreaded 18th place at six points. And despite the two drubbings of Arsenal, we somehow still have a better goal difference than the Hammers.
And the 1-1 draw between Forest and Palace was probably the best outcome from that match, with the added bonus of Nico Williams being sent off, so he will be suspended for the big game on Friday. It was an awful game and Palace looked satisfyingly poor even against ten men, so I still have the highest hopes we will finish above them at the end of the season.
So all eyes are now on our next game, against Forest. It’s possible that our tonking on Saturday owed something to Arsenal’s desire to get back winning ways after losing to you know who, and we will need to show the same desire to prove ourselves after a poor defeat. Though it might also help if we can sort ourselves out at the back.