Thierry Henry needed just over 10 minutes to mark his Arsenal return with the winning goal as Leeds United were edged out 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium in the FA Cup third round last night.

The former France international, 34, left the Gunners in June 2007 as the club’s record goal-scorer and returned last week on a two-month loan from New York Red Bulls.

He could hardly have made a more impressive comeback, showing his colleagues how to finish after Leeds held out stubbornly until the 79th minute, 11 minutes after Henry had come on to a rapturous welcome from the home fans.

It was his 227th Gunners goal and Arsenal’s reward is a fourth round tie at home to Aston Villa.

After the match he told ESPN: “It’s kind of weird, I only came back from holiday in Mexico 15 days ago, I never thought I was going to be playing for Arsenal again and then score the winner.

“The feeling I had when I scored was amazing, I’ve rejoined the club as a fan, I just wanted to come and help the team, and then I end up as man of the match.”