Bukayo Saka was Arsenal's match-winner once again and Patrick Bamford endured a nightmare as the Premier League leaders secured a dramatic 1-0 win at Leeds United.

The Gunners would have been braced for a typically energetic start from Leeds, but play was suspended less than two minutes after it started as a power cut was affecting Hawk-Eye and communications between referee Chris Kavanagh and the VAR.

The in-form Saka gave the Gunners a first-half lead with his fourth goal in three matches after the game resumed following a delay of around 40 minutes.

Arsenal rode their luck to secure a seventh consecutive victory in all competitions, half-time substitute Bamford having a goal disallowed and missing a penalty.

Leeds were then awarded another spot-kick in stoppage time and Gabriel Magalhaes was shown a red card for kicking out at Bamford, but referee Kavanagh overturned his decision following a VAR check as the striker had pushed the Brazil defender – who was instead issued with a yellow card – before he lashed out.

Jesse Marsch's side had quickly sparked into life when play finally resumed following a long delay, Luis Sinisterra driving forward and drilling just wide from outside the penalty area.

It was Arsenal who were in front 10 minutes before the break, though, when Rodrigo Moreno's terrible cross-field pass was intercepted by Saka and the England forward then fired beyond Illan Meslier with his right foot from inside the box after Martin Odegaard slipped him in.

Rodrigo was replaced by Bamford at the break and the striker had the ball in the back of the net less than a minute after coming on, but he was rightly penalised for a push on Gabriel.

Bamford was denied by Aaron Ramsdale when he went one-on-one with the keeper to spare William Saliba's blushes after a poor touch from the centre-back, with Arsenal looking increasingly shaky at the back.

Saliba gifted Bamford an even better chance to equalise 64 minutes in, when he handled and referee Kavanagh awarded a penalty after checking the pitchside monitor, but the Leeds striker dragged his spot-kick wide.

Bamford cut a frustrated figure yet again when he raced clear but failed to beat Ramsdale and there was one stunning final twist in a frantic encounter in west Yorkshire.

Gabriel was given his marching orders for retaliating while he was on the ground with time almost up, but busy official Kavanagh was told to head to the touchline again and there was relief for Arsenal when he awarded a free-kick for a clear shove from Bamford rather than a penalty, also enabling the centre-back to remain on the field.

 

What does it mean? Gunners ride their luck to extend winning streak

A seventh consecutive victory for the leaders in all competitions puts them four points clear of Manchester City ahead of the champions' trip to Liverpool.

They were extremely fortune not to have their winning streak halted by Leeds, who will wonder how on earth they were consigned to a first home defeat of the season.

Arsenal have now gone 13 games without defeat against Leeds, who are without a victory in six matches but did not resemble a struggling side.

Big team performance

Made possible by our incredible support...

We did this together pic.twitter.com/LgqSM89wyZ

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) October 16, 2022

Clinical Saka steps up again

Saka helped himself a double in a 3-2 victory over Liverpool last weekend and scored the only goal of the game in the Europa League win at Bodo/Glimt on Thursday.

The England international came up with another decisive strike at Leeds, becoming Arsenal's joint-top scorer for the season with five alongside Gabriel Jesus.

More misery for Bamford

Bamford was sent on to make a big impact and he certainly did that, but paid the price for crossing the line with his physical approach.

He was also let down by his finishing, wasting a string of chances along with his spot-kick as he failed to score a first goal since last December.

Key Opta Facts

- Arsenal have won as many as nine of their opening 10 games to a top-flight campaign for the first time in their history.

- Leeds are winless in their past six Premier League games (D2 L4), while this is the first time they have lost consecutive league matches this season.

- Arsenal had just two shots in the second half of this match (zero on target), while this was the first Premier League game this season in which the Gunners failed to score after half-time.

- Saka has been involved in nine goals in his past 10 appearances for Arsenal in all competitions (five goals, four assists), while this is now the second time he has scored in three consecutive games for the Gunners (also in December/January last season).

- Bamford's penalty miss was Leeds' first unsuccessful spot-kick in the Premier League since September 2002 (Alan Smith v Blackburn Rovers), ending a run of 18 consecutive scored penalties for them in the competition.

What's next?

The Gunners are at home to PSV in the Europa League on Thursday, when Leeds travel to struggling Leicester City in the Premier League.