Last gasp Gunners do it again

Burnley 0-1 Arsenal

Arsenal followed up their victory in the North London derby with a last minute winner to seal all three points against a dogged and determined Burnley side.

It was the third successive occasion that the Gunners have emerged victorious against Sean Dyche’s side thanks to a last gasp goal. It was therefore understandable that the home side were extremely aggrieved at the final whistle, but in truth they had little to complain about as referee Lee Mason had no other option than to point to spot when Aaron Ramsey was inexplicably shoved in the back with seconds remaining on the clock.

Many pundits proclaimed the result as being harsh on a Burnley side who had put so much effort and determination into the game while Arsenal were not at their fluent best throughout as they struggled to find the right pass or make the best decision in the final third. As the game wore on such situations only resulted in more and more frustration for the away fans while providing the home side with more and more encouragement. However although Burnley posed a significant attacking threat throughout the first half, enjoying the better chances and forcing Cech into an excellent save at one point, the Gunners took over in the second half and the hosts barely crossed the half way line as they ended up being camped inside their own half with at times, as many as six players across the back line.

It was therefore not surprising at all that Arsenal struggled to create clear cut goal scoring opportunities. In the first half they appeared laboured at times as the slow tempo to their game reduced proceedings to walking pace at times. However the second period saw the team quicken the tempo and they quickly began to dominate despite still struggling to create opportunities at will. With Burnley offering very little as an attacking force, it may have been beneficial for Wenger to take off a defender, revert to a four man defence and bring on another striker to play alongside Lacazette. The former Lyon man performed well as the lone striker and did hold the ball up on a number of occasions, showcasing excellent skill and close control but unfortunately the Frenchman was rather isolated up front and therefore whenever the Gunners got the ball out wide there were no options for the man on the ball as only Lacazette would be in the box. Had there been another striker alongside him, Arsenal would have posed more of a danger and could have opened the scoring earlier.

With Mesut Ozil out through illness, the Gunners did lack his guile and ability to thread a pass through the eye of a needle as Alexis Sanchez and Alex Iwobi struggled to get themselves into the game. The introduction of Jack Wilshere was therefore somewhat inevitable and the Englishman did help Arsenal to create space and pick holes in the Burnley defence as he would lay the ball off to a teammate before surging forward to collect the return pass. Such rapid movement can result in space opening up in such a tight game and is something that not many other players offer to this side. Again, had Arsenal switched to two up front, Wilshere would have had more to work with in an attacking sense as he would have been able to play little give and goes with the forward players before attempting to burst into the box.

However Arsene Wenger decided to stick to his principles and in the end won the game but more as a result of the rashness of the challenge which led to the penalty than any wonderful attacking play from his side. Alexis Sanchez did show great composure to place the penalty right into the corner and it needed to be an excellently executed penalty as Tom Pope dived the right way and even got his hand to the ball, but such was the placement of the effort that the goalkeeper could not keep it out.

However Wenger will have been more pleased with his defence however as they withstood a number of crosses into the box, delivered with real pace and venom which in previous years would have caused them numerous problems. However with Mustafi picking up where he left off against Tottenham the week before and Monreal continuing to enjoy an excellent season alongside him and Koscielny, Arsenal stood firm and never really looked to be unduly uncomfortable at any point in the game. Cech did pull off a wonderful save in the first half to deny the hosts, but other than that the goalkeeper was not especially overworked.

This was an extremely hard fought victory and the players can be proud of their performance on the day. They refused to be bullied in a hostile atmosphere, defended resolutely and did not give away a silly goal and in the end emerged victorious against a side that made sure they were extremely well organised and difficult to beat. On many other occasions in such circumstances the Gunners have wilted and dropped points. The media ran with their usual agenda of Arsenal getting a decision against a plucky opponent, but there could be no argument against the fact that it was a penalty. It was a clear shove in the back and given the fact that Bellerin should have also been awarded a penalty earlier in the game, Burnley really didn’t have anything to complain about. In the second half there was only one team that showed any desire to win the game and that team ended up doing so. The jubilant celebrations at the end of the game showed the relief amongst the players at having done so and they must now regroup and focus on the next match against Huddersfield in midweek.