With a 1-0 victory over Leeds, Bukayo Saka kept Arsenal in first place in the Premier League. However, the visitors were fortunate to come away with the win because Patrick Bamford missed a second-half penalty.
When there was a power outage in Leeds’ Beeston neighborhood, the game had just been going for one minute. Although Leeds swiftly restored electricity, VAR and HawkEye could not be connected, and both teams’ players were led back to the locker rooms.
Play resumed after a 40-minute break, and Leeds didn’t let up. Any enthusiasm the Elland Road crowd had lost during the delay was restored by Luis Sinisterra’s rasping drive barely seconds after the resumption.
In an odd beginning to the game, a power outage after 60 seconds necessitated a 40-minute pause, and a match that was heavily reliant on VAR drama almost didn’t have the technology.
Rodrigo’s unnecessary crossfield ball allowed Leeds to compete head-to-head with the league leaders in a first half that was evenly matched. Saka capitalized on this opportunity to give the Gunners the lead with a powerful finish.
At halftime, Leeds swapped off Rodrigo for Bamford, who altered the course of the match. The striker first had a close-range goal controversially disallowed for offside after pushing Gabriel, then missed his subsequent penalty when William Saliba handled the ball.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal are now four points ahead of the defending champions Manchester City, who fell to Liverpool 1-0 on Super Sunday.