Arsenal ‘suffer’ but prevail to open gap at top of Premier League table

As Mikel Arteta passionately celebrated Arsenal’s victory at Leeds United on Sunday, supporters lauded his side with the chant “1-0 to the Arsenal.”

It paid homage to the teams of yesteryear who often showed defensive resilience and tactical acumen to achieve such a result.

It is something not associated with the Gunners in recent seasons as inconsistent performances have seen them fall out of the Premier League’s top-four picture and a place in the coveted Champions League.

Fabulous one game, feeble the next, and subsequent questions about their mentality and quality.

Now Arsenal stand four points clear at the top, having impressively won nine of their opening 10 league games in a season for the first time since 1903-04.

As Arteta said afterward: “This is not a coincidence, it shows the willingness that I see in the eyes of the players to win, to compete. This is something special.”

The 40-year-old Spanish manager, who took over in 2019 after three years as assistant to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, is creating something special at the Emirates Stadium as his young side passed another big test of their credentials to challenge the title favorites.

Mohamed Salah’s fourth goal this week, accounting for City’s first league defeat of the campaign at Liverpool, has added fresh intrigue to a race that did not feature Arsenal as contenders at the start of the season.

After all, they have not been champions since Arsene Wenger’s “Invincibles” went unbeaten in the 2003-04 season, and last finished in the top four in 2016 when they were runners-up to Leicester.

Yet Arteta’s men deserve to be in the frame again as their displays have combined stubborn resolve with a slick and quick attack, producing performances that