The Return of the Elephant Season 2.
Arsenal leapfrogged Tottenham into second place in the Premier League after beating Burnley 3-1 at Emirates Stadium on Saturday, thanks to goals from Leandro Trossard, William Saliba and Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Mikel Arteta made one change to the side that beat Sevilla on Wednesday with Zinchenko coming in to replace Ben White, who was absent with an muscular issue.
Despite Arsenal dominating possession early on, it was Burnley who registered the first shot on target when Zeki Amdouni forced Daya Raya into action from range with the resulting corner dealt with comfortably.
Arteta’s side lacked penetration throughout the opening 20 minutes before Bukayo Saka burst into life and rifled an effort straight for the top corner, which was expertly saved by James Trafford.
That chance sparked Arsenal into life and Saka found himself free down the right after some beautiful play from Zinchenko, but his cross was intercepted well by Dara O’Shea when it looked destined for Trossard in the middle.
The Gunners should have been ahead when Kai Havertz was left unmarked again from a corner only to head over from six yards, before Raya made a brilliant save down low to his left to deny Johann Berg Gudmundsson after he latched onto a sloppy Saliba backpass.
Just as the first half began to fizzle out, Arsenal eventually broke the deadlock in injury time when Trossard headed home at the back post after meeting Saka’s intelligent header across goal, catching Burnley unaware. 1-0.
After the break, Burnley almost caught the Gunners cold within a minute of the restart when Luca Koleosho showed his pace and found himself through one-v-one with Raya, although Saliba was able to race back and make a crucial interception.
And the visitors scored a shock equaliser moments later when Koleosho managed to round Takehiro Tomiyasu by the touchline, before a penalty box scramble eventually ended in Josh Brownhill drilling past Raya with the help of a deflection. 1-1.
VAR checked the goal for a potential foul on Tomiyasu but with both players pulling each other’s shirts, the goal was eventually given.
But Arsenal took just two minutes to restore their lead – first it was Trafford saving again smartly from Gabriel Martinelli who escaped down the left – before Saliba rose highest to head home from close range on his 50th club appearance. 2-1.
The hosts continued to push and Declan Rice sent a curling effort just wide, before a piece of magic from their left back made it three after 73 minutes.
With another set piece troubling Burnley – O’Shea headed onto his own crossbar with Trafford stranded – the ball fell to Zinchenko who embodied the spirit of Paolo Di Canio to scissor kick into the top corner. 3-1.
Arsenal were in cruise control by that point until Fabio Vieira was sent off in the 83rd minute for a poor tackle on Brownhill, who was quicker to the ball and caught high on the knee by the Portuguese midfielder. red card.
Another worrying sight for Arteta was Martinelli on the ground holding his hamstring with five minutes to play and was quickly withdrawn for Jakub Kiwior. With injuries (and now a suspension for Vieira) piling up, the Gunners boss will be hoping it’s nothing serious.
After weathering six minutes of injury time, it wasn’t a vintage Arsenal performance under the Emirates lights but after winning in midweek, jumping into second place and level on points with Manchester City will never be a bad thing.
Arsenal: Raya, Tomiyasu, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Trossard, Rice, Jorginho, Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
Subs: Ramsdale, Nketiah, Kiwior, Vieira, Nelson, Elneny, Ibrahim, Sagoe Jr, Walters.
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