11th November, 2023
Arsenal outclassed Burnley 3-1 on Saturday to move second in the Premier League table and hand the visitors a sixth straight defeat in all competitions.
Goals from Leandro Trossard, William Saliba and Oleksandr Zinchenko gave Arsenal victory but their afternoon ended on a sour note when Fabio Vieira was sent off.
Arsenal climbed to 29 points in the standings, level with leaders Manchester City and one point above north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, who lost 2-1 at Wolverhampton Wanderers in the early kickoff.
“Really happy with the result, especially the performance. How dominant we were against a team that is very difficult to dominate.
“The amount of situations that we generated I think we fully deserved to win the game,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told reporters.
Burnley’s crisis deepened as they sit 19th with four points following their 10th defeat in 12 games.
Vincent Kompany named an unchanged Burnley side for the first time this season and they did well to keep Arsenal at bay even as Arteta’s team dominated possession and piled on the pressure in search of a breakthrough.
The London side scored on the stroke of halftime when Bukayo Saka headed the ball across the six-yard box and Trossard leapt into the air to head home Arsenal’s 1,000th goal at Emirates Stadium.
However, celebrations were muted as the Belgian clattered into the post and winced in pain as he held his arm before returning to the pitch after treatment.
Burnley levelled against the run of play in the second half when a blocked shot fell to Josh Brownhill and the skipper’s effort took a deflection to beat the helpless David Raya in Arsenal’s goal.
The scores were level for barely two minutes, however, as Arsenal won a corner and Trossard’s dangerous delivery found Saliba, who nodded home from a yard out.
Zinchenko made it 3-1 with an improvised volley after Burnley failed to clear a corner.
“Take nothing away, we played a fantastic side. The way Mikel has the team working is outstanding.
“For putting in the performance we did, we’re relying on other factors like luck or individual moments but on the two set plays that wasn’t the case,” Kompany said.
Vieira saw red for a high boot when he caught Brownhill on the knee but Arteta had no issues with the decision after criticising the officials following his team’s 1-0 defeat at Newcastle United.
“Tough place to go. We defended very well for the majority of the game. The timing of the first goal kills us.
“When we go level second half, you don’t want to concede straight away after. They are stupid goals for us,” Brownhill said. (Reuters/NAN) (www.nannews.ng)