Burnley 0 Arsenal 5: Gunners keep pace in title race with thrashing as Saka double leaves Clarets in serious trouble
‘ARE you West Ham in disguise’ sang the jubilant Arsenal fans to the quickly emptying home stands.
As disguises go, it wasn’t a very imaginative one from Burnley but you could see what they meant.
Because for the second weekend the rampant Gunners ran riot at the home of a team in claret and blue.
Vintage against the Clarets, you might say – and you can only raise a glass to Mikel Arteta’s men in this kind of mood.
Luckily for Aston Villa they hosted the North Londoners back in December!
If there was one small crumb of comfort for Vincent Kompany’s side it was that they ONLY conceded five.
That’s one fewer than the Hammers shipped in last Sunday’s London derby.
But even so it was almost Groundhog Day for the Gunners.
Bukayo Saka scored twice – just as he did at London Stadium and Leandro Trossard was also on the mark once again.
Arteta’s men have now rattled in 21 goals in five matches – their warm weather training break in the Middle East had clearly done them good.
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They could have decided to take it easy after their famous win against the Hammers – but they did nothing of the sort.
And after a bright start by the home side, it took the Gunners just four minutes to take the lead with their first attack of the afternoon.
Declan Rice started the move with a driving run and he swept the ball out to Gabriel Martinelli on the left.
He picked out Martin Odegaard on the edge of the box and the Norwegian had the freedom of East Lancashire to take a touch, pick his spot and beat James Trafford.
It was an eight goal of the season for the skipper and just what his team needed after Liverpool’s win earlier in the afternoon.
Clarets boss Vincent Kompany was watching from the stands after picking up a third yellow card of the season at Liverpool last week.
And the Belgian would have been alarmed at the number of times his team surrendered possession around their own box.
It could have got worse for the home side as Saka’s long ball sent Trossard racing clear.
He tried to go round Trafford but the England Under 21 keeper got a good hand on it – and Dara O’Shea completed the clearance.
The linesman’s flag may have come to Burnley’s rescue anyway but Arsenal were looking dangerous every time they attacked.
Saka’s low cross from the left was hoofed away by Sander Berge with Kai Havertz lurking at the back stick ready for a tap in.
Trossard produced a fresh air shot from another low cross but Burnley were finding it tough to get a handle on the Belgium international.
That much was clear just before the break as deadline day signing Lorenz Assignon found himself on the wrong side in the box.
There was enough contact for ref Jarred Gillett to point to the spot – and the VAR did not see enough evidence to overturn it.
Saka took responsisbility and his spot-kick was just out of the reach of Trafford – giving the visitors some breathing space.
That made it four Prem games in a row that the England wide man has scored in.
And this one put his team firmly on course for a fifth consecutive league win since the turn of the year.
Burnley – who have won only once at Turf Moor all season – had not managed a single shot on target all half for all their endeavour.
Kompany’s words at the break must have seemed pretty hollow as the visitors put the game to bed within a couple of minutes of the re-start.
Odegaard’s clever ball split the home defence and Saka took a touch past Hannes Delcroix to get the ball onto his right foot.
He still had plenty to do but thumped a shot into the roof of the net that Trafford hardly saw as it fizzed past him.
Mikel Arteta and Kompany spent three years working together at Manchester City when the Spaniard was Pep Guardiola’s No2.
There was plenty of respect between the two but the Gunners boss clearly did not want his team to show any mercy.
Burnley fans must have thought the day couldn’t get much worse – but the way this season is going it certainly could.
In pouring rain, Aaron Ramsey seemed to get his studs caught after a tackle from Odegaard and needed oxygen as he was stretchered off in some distress.
He was replaced by Charlie Taylor who tried to block a shot from Kai Havertz after a powerful run down the left by Jakub Kiwior.
However the ball broke kindly to Trossard who slotted home the goal his impressive performance deserved.
And Arsenal weren’t finished there. Burnley’s heads had completely dropped as they switched off from a throw in.
Havertz pounced on the loose ball and skipped past Delcroix too easily before rolling under Trafford for number five.
It was November 2020 last time Burnley lost by five – a miserable season for them is only heading one way.
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