‘Something special’ – Mikel Arteta says Arsenal’s flying start is no coincidence after victory at Leeds

Mikel Arteta praised his Arsenal side for doing “something special” after the Premier League leaders continued their fine start to the season with a hard-fought 1-0 win at Leeds United.

Arsenal have won nine of their 10 league games this season and their latest victory sent the Gunners four points clear of Manchester City, ahead of their meeting with Liverpool.

“This is something special. This is not a coincidence, it shows the willingness that I see in the eyes of the players to win, to compete,” Arteta told Sky Sports.

“A lot of players played in Norway two and a half days ago [against Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League], travelled back on Friday and were still willing to win so credit to them.”

The game in Yorkshire was filled with incident, as Leeds striker Patrick Bamford had a goal disallowed and missed a penalty in the second half.

There was late drama too when a second spot-kick was awarded and a red card shown to Arsenal defender Gabriel for kicking out at Bamford, but both decisions were overturned following a VAR review.

“Hectic…it’s always really intense here, we were exceptional in the first half and should have been two or three up,” Arteta said.

“Credit to Leeds in the second half, we made so many errors and did not generate momentum, but I just love the relentless passion the team played with and how we found a way to win.”

He added: “I have not seen it [the overturned penalty decision] but everyone is saying the decision was clear.”

“Thank God they made the system to work, that delay was worth it because without VAR I don’t know what would have happened.”

Arsenal face PSV next in the Europa League on Thursday, before their league campaign continues at Southampton on Sunday.