Gabriel Jesus capped off his comeback from injury by scoring twice to help us cruise to victory against Leeds United.

Gabriel Jesus celebrated his first league start since November as Arsenal restored their eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League with a 4-1 win over Leeds United.

The Gunners, who had to react after Manchester City’s similar success at Liverpool at lunchtime, were not in the early stages of the competition but went 1-0 up at half-time thanks to a penalty from Jesus.

The visitors’ hard work was soon halted in the second half, however, as Jesus completed his tally alongside goals from Granit Xhaka and Ben White, with Rasmus Kristensen’s efforts just a consolation for Leeds.

Seeking to emulate Bournemouth’s 11-second goal at the Emirates, Leeds ran off the Emirates Stadium cards and Kristensen forced Aaron Ramsdale into a powerful save with less than a minute remaining.

He denied Jesus – whose header came from an 11th-minute Xhaka cross – a high-profile chance. Arsenal’s only early goal was of little consequence as Leeds defended resolutely to frustrate the hosts.

Javi Gracia would have been the happier of the two managers after the opening 20 minutes, with Bukayo Saka’s absence from the starting XI clearly minimizing Arsenal’s threat down the right.

Ramsdale was the busiest goalkeeper in the first half and was on hand to deny Crysencio Summerville and Jack Harrison in quick succession after half an hour, but just a minute later Arsenal were awarded a penalty against the run of play .

Jesus’ flashy toes proved too hot for the Leeds defense and Luke Ayling caught the Brazilian on his knees – Jesus coolly struck from the middle to end a 14-game goalless run that stretched to 1 October.

Arsenal came from a goal-scoring opportunity on the stroke of half-time and doubled their lead exactly 100 seconds after the restart when Gabriel Martinelli outpaced Ayling on the left and White crossed. Breaking the house from the bar in the yard.

Total strangers to the team that started the game, Mikel Arteta’s side went ahead in the 55th minute thanks to a second pass from Leandro Trossardi, who supported the ball on the right side of the box and cut the ball into play for the third open goal. attacking Jesus another afternoon to drive home.

The Gunners had emerged from a worrying game seemingly unscathed, but the frailties of the home side’s defense were exposed in the 75th minute when Kristensen scored for the second successive game, beating Oleksandr Zinchenko on the edge of the box.

But just as they had conceded against Crystal Palace a fortnight ago, Arsenal hit back with a fourth goal when Martin Odegaard flicked the ball into the box to allow Xhaka to head home Meslier.

Having played a game more than Man City, Arsenal maintain their eight-point lead at the top ahead of next Sunday’s trip to Liverpool, while Leeds have dropped to 17th and host Nottingham Forest next Tuesday.

Lineups:

Arsenal: 

Ramsdale, White, Gabriel, Hoding, Zinchenko (Tierney 85), Xhaka, Partey (Jorginho 59), Odegaard (Smith-Rowe 85), Trossard, Martinelli, Jesus (Saka 59)

Unused Subs: Turner, Kiwior, Vieira, Nelson, Walters.

Leeds: 

Meslier, Ayling, Koch (Cooper 74), Struijk, Firpo, Kristensen, Roca, Harrison (Bamford 85), Aaronson (McKennie 66), Sinisterra (Rodrigo 66), Summerville (Rutter 74)

Unused Subs: Robles, Gyabi, Greenwood, Gray.

Scorers:

Man of the Match: Gabriel Fernando de Jesus