Arsenal 2-1 Burnley
Arsenal have made it two Premier League wins out of two after a 2-1 victory over Burnley in the lunchtime kick-off at the Emirates. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored the winner for the second time in two weeks as the Gunners fought off a determined Burnley side.
The Arsenal vs Burnley betting tips pretty unanimously went for a home win but Sean Dyche’s side gave the hosts a good test, as Ashley Barnes scored his third goal of the season to equalise an Alexandre Lacazette opener.
Highlights of the game
David Luiz’ deadline day transfer from Chelsea gave Arsenal fans plenty to be cheerful about, and they’d have had a laugh or two when his former side was hammered last week by Manchester United. And he almost got a touch to open the scoring when Burnley defender Matt Lowton deflected a cross into his path.
Lacazette did test Nick Pope on 12 minutes, forcing the Burnley keeper to tip his 12-yard effort over the bar. And it was the French striker who put the Gunners ahead from the resulting corner swung in by Dani Ceballos as he collected the ball at the near post and then fired past Pope and two Burnley defenders.
The Clarets almost levelled immediately, but Chris Wood screwed his shot wide when he should have hit the target. Two goals from Ashley Barnes put Southampton to the sword last week, and he was the next to try his luck with a header from a corner. He forced Bernd Leno into a smart save, but the striker had drifted offside.
Burnley, in their new evergreen kit, were causing Arsenal problems from set pieces, but Luiz and Sokratis were holding firm. Meanwhile, the Clarets had more passes in the final third over the opening half-hour. Arsenal were not threatening much, but in a rare first-half attack, Joe Willock tested Pope with a shot which Ben Mee eventually cleared.
Sean Dyche has put a lot of faith in teenage winger Dwight McNeil, and when the Clarets’ equaliser came he had a big hand in it. Burnley broke quickly and McNeil’s shot ricocheted into the path of Barnes, who finished smartly from close range.
The Gunners had the ball in the net just on half-time, but Reiss Nelson’s effort was correctly ruled out by VAR as Nacho Monreal was offside.
The 2018/19 Premier League co-top scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had a quiet first half but looked livelier at the start of the second 45. He fired a shot narrowly over the bar, and then the busy Ceballos had an effort blocked.
Aubameyang tested Pope with a snapshot which the Burnley stopper held and, just after the hour, Dyche reacted by bringing on Burnley boy Jay Rodriguez to replace Chris Wood up front.
Arsenal continued to press, and Pope was called into action again to keep out a fine effort from Ceballos.
But the pressure finally told on 64 minutes. It was Aubameyang who scored with a fine effort, low onto the corner from just outside the penalty area after Ceballos had done well to break up a Burnley move.
The Clarets had it all to do again but weren’t about to give up. Johann Berg Gudmundsson stood a cross up to the back post and McNeil climbed well, but he couldn’t keep his header down.
And the Gunners had the points in the bag when Burnley’s last chance, an overhead kick by Rodriguez, flew over the bar.
Key Statistics
We backed a hard-fought game in out pre-match SBOBET tips and so it proved as Burnley won the first half shot count by 10 to 8 while each side had four on target.
By the end, the Clarets were still ahead on shots by 18 to 16, though the Gunners tested Pope more, with nine shots on target to Burnley’s five.
The head to head Premier League 2019 results still make grim reading for the Clarets as they have now lost 13 of the last 15 meetings with Arsenal, and this loss ended a six-match unbeaten run for Dyche’s team.
What’s next?
After an opening day win away to Newcastle this was another difficult hurdle overcome and Unai Emery was clearly delighted at the final whistle.
Now Arsenal’s mettle will be severely tested over the next two weeks, first with a visit to Liverpool and then a home game against North London rivals Spurs.
The Clarets have another away day next weekend when they head to the Black Country to take on Wolves, before a midweek EFL Cup tie at home to League 1 Sunderland.
It hasn’t been that long since the Black Cats were in the Premier League, and they will be hopeful of handing a reminder to Dyche’s team, which has a habit of throwing one in against lower league opposition!
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