Arsenal overcame the side with the worst away record in the Premier League – Burnley – thanks to a penalty in the last minute of the game which Alexis Sanchez converted. Granit Xhaka was sent off in the second half and the Gunners were down to 10 men after the 64th minute.
Burnley’s Andre Gray then snatched an equaliser after Francis Coquelin conceded a bad penalty in the 88th minute.
However, the London club fought back and left it late to win the 3 points after they were awarded a penalty of their own in the 97th minute.
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Here are the talking points from the exciting game:
#1 Burnley difficult to break down in the first half
It started off like the same old story for the Gunners. A lot of huffing and puffing combined with spurts of intricate play which led to no goals. We’ve seen this time and again from Arsenal – good passages of play and no end product. Burnley piled bodies into the box and tussled for every ball making life very difficult for Arsenal, and until the second half, the Gunners had no answer.
Burnely’s centre-backs stayed compact and nullified Giroud, who was starved up-front with very little, if not any service. While the only two good chances Arsenal had were a couple of long-range efforts – one from Mesut Ozil, who forced Heaton into a good save, and another from Alexis Sanchez, as he tried to bend one into the top corner, but shot narrowly wide.
It’s high time Arsenal try something new because it’s become easy and predictable to defend against them.
#2 Arsenal score from a set-piece; Mustafi proves to be vital
Yes, you read that right. Arsenal actually scored a goal from a set-piece. To be fair, it seems that the Gunners have worked on that aspect of their game this season, as compared to previous seasons where they barely scored any from dead-ball situations. Seven out of Arsenal’s 47 goals this season in the Premier League have come from set-pieces, that’s only the 11th best set-piece goal record in the Premier League.
Arsenal score a lot of goals from open play, hence goals from set-pieces are not necessary for them; Tottenham have only scored 3 from set-pieces. But when teams make things difficult by defending well and compact, teams have to try different things.
Shkodran Mustafi broke the dead-lock against Burnley with a good header from a Mesut Ozil corner. The German defender beat his marker and headed well to score for the Gunners against Burnley.
An interesting stat about the German defender is that he has never lost a game for Arsenal when he has started. Mustafi is proving to be vital for the Gunners but there is room for a lot of improvement.
#3 Granit Xhaka sent off, again
Arsene Wenger has defended Granit Xhaka’s disciplinary record recently saying, “You can see in his game he is not a dirty player. Overall I am quite happy with his defensive evolution. He is less spectacular in his tackling and he stays more on his feet. He uses his body better to win the challenges and his recovery runs are stronger when the ball goes behind him. Before he was a little bit in the moon.”
It’s an honest assessment, but it comes with the domain of being a defensive enforcer in midfield. Xhaka has made the most number of tackles of all his Arsenal team-mates – 52. But he has to learn to keep his cool in situations and not get sent off, like he did against Burnley for a reckless challenge on Defour.
Xhaka is now the most sent-off player in all of Europe’s top 5 leagues for the last two seasons.
#4 A tale of two penalties – Gray equalised for Burnley but Sanchez had the last say
Francis Coquelin came on for Arsenal and began to put himself about. The holding midfielder came off the bench to re-enforce the midfield after Xhaka got sent off, but he made a horrible blunder in his own box in the 88th minute. He mistimed his tackle and brought down Barnes in the area.
Burnley’s Andre Gray equalised from the ensuing penalty and made it 1-1. However, with 7 minutes of added time, Arsenal had a glimmer of hope. Despite being a man down, they overloaded the box consistently and their pressure finally came good in the 96th minute when Burnely defender Ben Mee kicked Koscielney in the head, after a ball was played in the air.
It was quite comical yet at the same time a calamity for Burnley, who had just equalised 8 minutes earlier. Alexis Sanchez was a cool customer and scored a paneka penalty by chipping Heaton in the Burnley goal with the last kick of the game.
Replays showed that Koscielney was offside when the ball was played to him. Fortune favours the brave as they say.
#5 Burnley away game woes; Arsene Wenger needs to act sensibly
Burnley need to start getting points on their travels. 96% of their points in the Premier League have come at Turf Moor. They have the third best home record in the Premier League, behind only Chelsea and Tottenham.
However, they have the worst away record, which is in start contrast to their impressive home record. If they could find a way to win away from home and at least be mid-table in away form, they could break into the top 10. Dyche needs to address this and try new things on his side’s travels.
Arsene Wenger must learn to behave after a decision by the officials. It’s quite shocking that such an experienced manager like Wenger acts like a petulant child when decisions go against his team. After he was asked by the referee to head into the tunnel, he reacted by pushing the fourth official who was telling him to do the same. Such retaliation from Wenger is not a new thing, he attacked Jose Mourinho while the Portuguese boss was managing Chelsea.
This time, however, he crossed the line by shoving the fourth official. The FA could look into the matter and suspend Wenger for a few games, which remains to be seen.
