“We have to accept their quality": Farke after Leeds fall in 4-0 defeat to Arsenal
A first-half header from Martin Zubimendi and a Karl Darlow own goal put Arsenal ahead by two goals at the break
Last updated 2nd Feb 2026
Leeds United fell to a 4-0 defeat against Arsenal at Elland Road as the Gunners regained momentum in their Premier League title challenge.
A first-half header from Martin Zubimendi and a Karl Darlow own goal put Arsenal ahead by two goals at the break. Viktor Gyokeres and Gabriel Jesus added to the scoreline in the second half to seal the victory for the visitors.
Leeds head coach Daniel Farke accepted the result and praised Arsenal’s quality. Farke said:
“Congratulations to Arsenal. They deserved their win today. We have to accept that the better team won this game.
“We were also realistic before we faced the best side currently in Europe.
“There are reasons why this team is sitting top of the table in the Premier League, with eight wins out of eight in the Champions League.
“You need a perfect day in order to give yourself a chance, and also a bit of luck. Sadly, we didn’t have our very best day.
“We have to accept their quality today. We have to say congratulations. They were better and there’s not too much to over interpretation into this game.”
The defeat marks Leeds' second loss in their last 11 league matches, which has slowed their progress in pulling further away from the relegation zone.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta praised his team’s emphatic performance, especially after struggling in recent league fixtures. Arteta said:
“We’re very happy, obviously. A very impressive performance, a very impressive result.
“In the context that we’ve done it. We knew about the difficulty of the game and the opponent that we’re facing, with a recent form and the style of play that they have at the moment, the energy that the stadium brings.
“And then the fact that after three results that didn’t go our way in the league, we really wanted to show how much we wanted it. And I think we said something on that today.”