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THIERRY HENRY conjured up a fairytale return with an FA Cup third-round winner for Arsenal. The Frenchman, who quit the Gunners for Barcelona in 2007, took just 10 minutes to make his mark on his homecoming as he swept home his 227th goal for the Londoners. Henry's 68th-minute entrance at the Emirates sparked a dull game into life. And his first sight of the Leeds net finished with his landmark goal. The strike was typical Henry - swift, precise and deadly. He took one touch to control Alex Song's clever pass and, before the Leeds defenders could react, he had planted the ball beyond keeper Andy Lonergan and into the far corner. Henry galloped down the touchline and hugged Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger as the home crowd went bananas for their hero. He will now get the chance for more Cup heroics against Aston Villa later this month before his loan ends in February. Poor Leeds had done everything until then to keep their Premier League opponents at bay. But Henry was not to be denied his moment back in the spotlight. Henry was awarded the man-of-the-match award - with many of the votes posted for the striker when he was still warming the bench. He accepted the bubbly, claiming it must have been a joke - but spoke candidly when asked about his return. He said: "I was always remember tonight. When it comes to Arsenal something happens with me - sometimes bad - but tonight was good. "The feeling I had when I scored was amazing. "I only re-joined the club as a fan and now I know what it feels like to score for the club you support." Andrey Arshavin had a couple of sighters inside the first two minutes as Arsenal started brightly. The Russian was put through again on four minutes in a much better position but blazed high and wide. Sebastien Squillaci got up at the far post on 15 minutes but his header from Mikel Arteta's free-kick whistled wide. Aaron Ramsey burst forward on 18 minutes and, as he was squeezed wide looking for support, he let one fly and the ball just fizzed over. Arshavin was enjoying himself on a rare start at the Emirates and after he and Ramsey saw one move break down, the winger tried again and dangerously advanced into the box with only a finishing touch on his inviting cross lacking. Arteta had Lonergan scrambling across his goalline midway through the half as the Spaniard's low drive slipped the wrong side of the keeper's left-hand upright. Arsenal were given a warning on 24 minutes when Luciano Becchio reacted first to a loose ball in the box but the radar was off and the ball ballooned over. The homs side lost Francis Coquelin to a hamstring injury on the half-hour mark, handing 18-year-old Nico Yennaris just a second career appearance. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had used his pace to good effect in the first half and he was at it again at the start of the second period as his burst down the right eventually took him into a shooting position in the box only for the youngster to push his effort wide. The Gunners came again on 54 minutes but Lonergan rescued Leeds with a full-stretch save low down to his left to keep out Arteta's shot. Lonergan, perhaps, was seeing more of the ball than any of his outfield team-mates as he again positioned himself perfectly to foil Oxlade-Chamberlain, who had driven in a first-time shot from the edge of the box. Oxlade-Chamberlain had another shot on 68 minutes but dragged his effort wide. Wenger immediately turned to Henry to try to make an impact on his Arsenal return as he came on for the ineffective Marouane Chamakh. Theo Walcott also came on. And Henry was back in the old routine on 78 minutes as he found space in the Leeds box and curled the ball into the far corner. Ross McCormack almost gained a swift reply but his header was straight at Wojciech Szczesny. Arshavin's night ended in the same fashion it began with a poor effort that never found its target. Arsenal, and Henry, had one final let-off as Mikael Forssell's late angled drive was beaten away by Szczesny.