Ghana target Eddie Nketiah bagged an early brace against the club he was on loan to back in 2019-20 to put Mikel Arteta's side in control.

However, despite the fact Leeds had to play with just 10 men for over an hour following Luke Ayling's straight red card, Arsenal were made to sweat for their three points after Diego Llorente halved the deficit in the second half.

Leeds' day got off to a terrible start when, with five minutes on the clock, goalkeeper Illan Meslier took a heavy touch and was immediately closed down by Nketiah, whose tackle took the ball over the line.

But it was to get much worse for Jesse Marsch's side just minutes later when Nketiah doubled Arsenal's advantage, finishing with a first-time shot from Gabriel Martinelli's pull-back.

The visitors were then reduced to 10 men, captain Ayling lunging in two-footed on Martinelli and although Chris Kavanagh initially showed the full-back a yellow card, the decision was overturned when the referee watched the replay on the monitor.

Arsenal appeared to be cruising towards three points until the 66th-minute when, out of nowhere, Leeds got on the scoreboard from their first corner of the game. Llorente was unmarked at the far post, and he made no mistake by smashing it past Aaron Ramsdale.

That set up a tense finale and although the nerves were tangible inside the Emirates, the hosts managed the game to secure a precious win in their quest for Champions League football next season.

Victory moves them four points clear of fifth-place Tottenham ahead of Thursday's North London derby and with just three games left to play.

Nketiah has now scored four goals in the English Premier League this season in 18 matches whiles he scored 5 goals in 5 matches in the Carabao Cup this season.