Max Dowman is only 15 but symbolises the optimism coursing through the club

There were still 26 minutes left when the kid rose from the bench and walked to the touchline. A murmur of excitement drifted around The Emirates and then, when Max Dowman, 15 years and 235 days old, ran on the pitch, roars of encouragement and delight followed him on to the turf.

Arsenal were already 4-0 up against Leeds United and the game was won but Dowman and his youth and his promise and his ambition and his potential were symbols of the optimism that is coursing through this club as it sets its sights on ending its 22-year wait for the Premier League title.

Maybe you think Dowman was just a cameo role but what he did and what he meant to Arsenal here was far more important than that. From his place on the right wing, he ran at defenders, drew a foul that got Gabriel Gudmundsson booked and won the added time penalty that gave Viktor Gyokeres his second goal of the game and sealed Arsenal's 5-0 win.

Dowman was significant for another reason, too. Arsenal lost both captain Martin Odegaard and star player Bukayo Saka to injury during their rout of Leeds. Nobody knows how serious the injuries are but in each of the last few years, Arsenal's title challenge might have ended against Leeds with the sight of Odegaard and Saka walking slowly to the touchline.

In other seasons, Arsenal have not been able to ride those injuries and still prosper. This season, it feels different. This season, it feels as if that losing Saka and Odegaard, for however long, would be a blow. But it would also be far from insuperable.

Arsenal has a squad bursting with talent now. Before the game, the club's new £67.5m signing from Crystal Palace, Eberechi Eze, was paraded on the pitch. If Saka is ruled out of next weekend's crunch clash with Liverpool at Anfield, what better player than Eze to step in?

If Odegaard has to miss a few games, well, Ethan Nwaneri, who was even younger than Dowman when he made his debut a few years ago, has the brain and the craft and the skill to be a more than capable deputy. He replaced Odegaard against Leeds and Arsenal did not miss a beat.

This is a squad so full of talent that Myles Lewis-Skelly couldn't get into the starting line-up. There are those of us that believe Lewis-Skelly is so good that he should always be in the starting line-up but that is another matter. The point remains: Arsenal have cover everywhere; it is hard to distinguish between first choice and second choice.

There were other positives, too. Gyokeres's brace will settle his nerves and edge him towards being the striker Arsenal have missed in recent seasons. Martin Zubimendi looked calm and classy. David Raya made a brilliant save. Declan Rice was as authoritative and dynamic as ever.

For what it's worth, this win put Arsenal top of the table on goal difference. We are two games in but it would not be a surprise to see them in the same place when 38 league matches are completed. They may not be as inspired as Liverpool but they may be more solid and more settled. Next Sunday will give us a better clue.

Arsenal subjected Leeds to fierce pressure from the kick-off. Leeds did their best not to give them time on the ball and pressed them hard but Arsenal's quality still created chances. Ten minutes in, Rice floated a ball into the area. Saka, stumbling and falling, tried to apply the headed finish it needed but could not quite reach it. He got up, smiling in exasperation.

There were no smiles five minutes later when Arsenal missed a gilt-edged chance to take the lead. The culprit was Viktor Gyokeres, the new signing from Sporting Lisbon, who had such a quiet debut against Manchester United last week.

Leeds tried to play the ball out from the back but Martin Zubimendi was on Pascal Struijk in the blink of an eye and his tackle sent the ball to Gyokeres. Gyokeres was six yards out with just Lucas Perri to beat.

The moment cried out for some composure, for the cold heart of a football assassin, but Gyokeres did not possess it. He snatched at the chance in a panic and it squirted well wide. On the touchline, Arteta turned away and held his head in his hands.

Arsenal suffered a blow eight minutes before half time when Martin Odegaard, who had been struggling with a shoulder injury sustained early in the game, was replaced. The blow was softened by the fact he was replaced by a player as talented as Nwaneri. That is what makes this Arsenal squad different this season. They have cover everywhere.

To prove that point, they scored again as the first half moved into time added on. Timber turned provider this time, slipping a pass inside the full-back for Saka, who ran on to it and lashed it high past Perri from an angle.

The biggest cheer of the evening came three minutes after the interval when Gyokeres ran on to a ball down the left, ran at Struijk, cut inside him and rifled a shot past Perri to score his first goal for the club and his first in the Premier League.

The cheers were full of relief as much as elation. Gyokeres is a prolific striker but a striker without confidence is barely a striker at all and his strike against Leeds and the adulation it unleashed will bring him closer to being the striker Arsenal bought.

Saka was forced off in the 53rd minute after pulling up sharply at the end of a surging run but Arsenal shrugged it off and got their fourth before the hour when Timber forced the ball over the line after another corner caused chaos and confusion in the Leeds box.

Then Dowman came on and the Emirates gloried in his youth and in their team's fifth goal and in the promise of a season that may bring 22 years of hurt to an end.