Sleepy Arsenal awaken to overwhelm toothless Burnley with aerial prowess

Crisis averted. In fact Arsenal barely engaged with it. While they fell well below their usual standards in attack, shipped a mildly controversial equaliser and even contrived to end a tepid game with 10 men after Fábio Vieira saw red, they still won with something to spare after discovering that Burnley were completely unable to deal with high crosses into the box.

The frustration for Vincent Kompany was that his side were not even blown away by a display of scintillating passing. Arsenal, who moved level on points with Manchester City at the top, simply used their aerial power to punch through with goals from Leandro Trossard, William Saliba and Oleksandr Zinchenko. Burnley, who remain in 19^th place, were far too callow to take advantage of Arsenal’s sloppiness.

It took Arsenal a while to hit their stride against opponents whose spirit and ambition could not mask a chronic lack of quality in both boxes. Arteta’s side were muted at first, the tempo too slow with Martin Ødegaard missing again, and a dozy start could have cost them a goal inside eight minutes. Fortunately David Raya was more alert than his teammates, flying to his left to deny Zeki Amdouni after the winger advanced through the middle and shot from long range.

Arsenal seemed sleepy. The absence of Ødegaard and his insistent passing made it difficult for them to vary the angles in attack, while Burnley succeeded in restricting Bukayo Saka’s influence during the early stages. Saka, who had been passed fit after limping off during the midweek win over Sevilla, could not get on the ball at first and Arteta felt compelled to usher the winger over to the touchline for a few conversations about his positioning during the first 20 minutes.

Yet with Burnley offering little as an attacking force, Arsenal were able to ease themselves into the contest. Tired of all the careful, inoffensive passing, Saka unleashed some of his frustration when he had Arsenal’s first shot on target and forced James Trafford to make a fine save. Zinchenko, ostensibly at left-back, popped up on the right and created an opening for Kai Havertz with a lovely flick. Five minutes later Havertz, still short of conviction on the right of a midfield three, looked pained after fluffing a decent headed chance.

It was still not happening for the German, who drew exasperated sighs when he slowed a promising counterattack with a poor pass in the 36^th minute. While Trossard still managed to get his shot away, forcing Trafford into another leaping stop, Arsenal were not making it easy for themselves. They could even have fallen behind after an error from Saliba, only for Raya to deny Johann Berg Gudmundsson.

Arsenal began to pin Burnley back and the pressure told when Saka nodded Zinchenko’s cross back across goal in the 45^th minute and Trossard, pressed into action as a false nine with Gabriel Jesus missing and Eddie Nketiah on the bench, beat Trafford with a brave header.

Burnley could only wonder how they had managed to lose out in the air to two of the smallest players on the pitch. It was a weakness that Arsenal repeatedly looked to exploit. Aware of Trafford’s reluctance to come off his line and claim crosses, they kept lifting high balls into the box and forced Burnley into a number of desperate headed clearances.

The ploy was so effective that it brought Arsenal another goal shortly after Burnley had rocked them by equalising in the 54^th minute. It was a simple way to avoid a drama. Arsenal had threatened to bring it on themselves, inviting Burnley on at the start of the second half and faltering when Luca Koleosho tussled with Takehiro Tomiyasu on the left. Koleosho’s challenge on Tomiyasu went unpunished, even after a VAR review, and Arsenal were made to pay when Josh Brownhill met a poor clearance with a shot that deflected in off Gabriel.

Time for a meltdown? Not quite. Instead of raging about another refereeing injustice, Arsenal stayed composed. Gabriel Martinelli immediately broke down the left and tested Trafford. From Trossard’s resulting corner Trafford flapped and Saliba headed in from a yard.

Arsenal proceeded to tighten their grip. It was not long before another set-piece led to more shenanigans in the Burnley defence, allowing Zinchenko to guide in a measured shot from 18 yards. Vieira’s red card following a poor challenge on Brownhill in the 83^rd minute made no difference.

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