Not Gyokeres or Timber, Daniel Farke was impressed by ‘fantastic’ Arsenal star vs Leeds

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Arsenal brought Leeds United back down to earth after their opening-day win over Everton.

The Gunners beat Leeds 5-0 at the Emirates to put on a show for supporters.

It was an eventful affair for Arsenal as Viktor Gyokeres scored his first two Premier League goals and Jurrien Timber starred in the final third, but injuries struck. 

Bukayo Saka suffered a hamstring injury, and before the winger was withdrawn, Martin Odegaard was hauled off after hurting his shoulder.

Injuries sadly tainted a day that presented Mikel Arteta with many positives going into the matchday three battle at Anfield. 

• READ MORE: Forget Max Dowman, another Arsenal substitute who completed 100% of his passes was better vs Leeds

Daniel Farke applauded David Raya moment vs Leeds United

Aside from the goal scorers and injuries, there were other talking points.

One was Max Dowman, who earned his Premier League debut at the age of just 15, winning a penalty as his trickery and strength left the opposition spellbound.

Arsenal fans were charmed by Dowman, but the teenager wasn’t the only one to earn high praise after the win.

Speaking to the media after his side’s heavy defeat, Leeds manager Daniel Farke name-dropped the Arsenal player that he believed made the difference.

“After 35 minutes, we had probably the best chance in the game with Pascal Struijk’s header and the fantastic save of David Raya,” Farke said. 

“We accept that they were the better team today, they deserved to win this game, and for us it’s not a season-defining game.”

Farke was impressed with Raya’s first-half save to deny Struijk, as the Arsenal shot-stopper prevented Leeds from taking the lead from a corner.

Ironically, it was the only save Raya made during the game, contrasting his busy opening-day outing at Old Trafford. 

Leeds star sees Arsenal as title contenders

Struijk could’ve beaten Arsenal at their own game by scoring from a corner, but 14 minutes after his miss, the Gunners flexed their superiority from set-play once again.

After the game, Struijk spoke to Leeds’ official website, where he admitted that he feels Arsenal are title-challengers. 

“It was never going to be easy coming here, I feel like they’re a title-contending team, so it was always going to be tough.”

The Leeds defender, like Farke, wants to draw a line under the result, understanding that his team were simply well-beaten on the day, but perhaps at one point, he thought his day could’ve gone a lot differently.