One more matchday down, one less hurdle for Arsenal to negotiate. Mikel Arteta’s Gunners were as cool as ever under pressure on a day when Manchester City threw down the gauntlet in the title race by thrashing Liverpool 4-1 at the Etihad, but Arsenal emulated the champion’s performance with a 4-1 win of their own over relegation-threatened Leeds United.
On a day when star youngster Bukayo Saka was given a well-deserved rest from starting duties, January signing Leandro Trossard continued to show his value since his arrival in north London after being deployed on the right flank of Arsenal’s front three, with Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli in their traditional roles.
Leandro Trossard’s game by numbers vs Leeds:
55 touches
3 touches in opp. box
3 chances created
2 interceptions
1 assist
1x possession wonOnly Bukayo Saka has provided more assists for Arsenal this season. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/QNLrXZL5YD
— Squawka Live (@Squawka_Live) April 1, 2023
The Belgian international, once again, did not disappoint for the Premier League leaders, adding a fantastic assist for Jesus’ second that saw Arsenal take a commanding 3-0 lead on the day that showed the full range of his creative and attacking qualities that are now as vital as any of Arteta’s options across the forward line.
It was Trossard’s seventh assist since swapping the south coast for the English capital, with the aforementioned Saka the only Arsenal player to have more assists than him. Most impressively, today’s appearance was Trossard’s eleventh of his Arsenal career, and with a goal also added, his eight goals in eleven appearances put him at the highest goal contribution rate of any player in the senior team.
That return has done wonders for the club on the pitch, and now means that the club is sure to have one of Jesus, Saka, Martinelli, or Trossard sitting in reserve on the bench and ready to come on; the type of depth in quality that true title challengers need.
And for a player that so many in the fanbase had reservations over in conjunction with frustration that Arsenal was gazumped by Chelsea in their attempt to prize Ukrainian wonderkid Mykhailo Mudryk to the Emirates, it is all the sweeter for a club that spent a fraction of the total £90+ it would have cost to secure the 21-year-old while offering up further evidence that Arteta and Edu have earned an immeasurable amount of faith from the fanbase as the project has hit overdrive this season.
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