Arsenal moved to withing four points of League leaders Chelsea after an impressive yet narrow win over relegation-threatened Burnley at Turf Moor a few moments ago. The Gunners were tested at times, especially towards the final quarter of the game, but they held on and picked up their eighth win on the trot; the first time they have done so since the Invincible days.
Going into the game, Arsenal stuck with the same lineup that took apart Liverpool last weekend. Arsene Wenger’s side were always the favourites and they reiterated that by taking the lead through Aaron Ramsey after just 12 minutes. The goal came after what looked like a scramble in the box as Alexis Sanchez’s initial shot was blocked and fell kindly for Mesut Ozil whose shot was in turn saved by Heaton. However, the Burnley defense failed to clear the ball and were punished by Aaron Ramsey who made no mistake and smashed the ball past Heaton.
From then on, Arsenal dominated possession and Burnley were given an occasional chance from a dead ball situation that came to nothing. David Ospina was troubled only once in the first half when a Kieran Trippier free kick had him stretching, but the Colombian goalkeeper tipped it aside. Arsenal were close to doubling their advantage, but Santo Cazorla’s speculative free kick could not test the goalkeeper.
In the second half, Arsenal began dominating the game but were frustrated by Burnley keeper Tom Heaton who denied them that two goal cushion once again in the 58th minute by producing another save to keep of Sanchez from etching his name into the scoresheet.
Burnley could rarely get hold of the midfield that was dominated by Arsenal and their only ploy at times was the long ball. They did have a decent goal scoring chance with 20 minutes to play as George Boyd found himself unmarked after some excellent work by Ben Mee down the left-hand side. Boyd couldn’t take the shot as an awkward bounce ruined the moment for him. The 29-year old scored an excellent goal to put Manchester City to the sword a few weeks ago, but couldn’t replicate that against Arsenal.
Burnley’s best chance however came in the 72nd minute when a Sam Vokes flick found Danny Ings in the box. The Burnley striker connected well, but Ospina was once again there to keep Arsenal level. The Gunners held on in the last ten minutes to move to within four points of Chelsea.
