Back to winning ways for Arsenal at Fortress Emirates. Burnley looked unlikely to be much of an obstacle, considering their poor start to the season, but one thing I can safely pronounce is that they're a better side than Sheffield United!
The afternoon got off to a cracking start before Arsenal had even kicked off. My party arrived at the ground just as Wolves were equalising at home to Tottenham, and those of us in the concourse watching the end of that match on the screens greeted their winner as loudly as if Arsenal themselves had scored a last-minute winner. It felt like a good omen for the day; plus of course it would mean that a victory would take us above The Old Enemy, despite them having had their best start to a PL season. Oh dear; oh dear; oh dear...
I've been saying to many people over the past few weeks that I actually quite like Big Ange - something of a breath of fresh air in my opinion - and that I was therefore waiting for his players to start letting him down. And it hasn't taken long. But anyway; that's quite enough about That Lot.
On to team selection, and further injury woes; No Ben White. He's quite possibly suffering from a bit of fatigue, so a couple of weeks off now - Southgate has again left him out of the latest England interlull squad - will be of great benefit I'm sure. Add him to the following list: Timber, Partey, Odegaard, Smith Rowe, Jesus. A squad that looked pretty complete (lack of a genuine target man notwithstanding) at the beginning of the season is starting to look a bit threadbare now. Hopefully White, Odegaard and Jesus will be back for Brentford in a fortnight. Nonetheless, the starting XI still looked more than good enough to handle Burnley.
Nonetheless, the away side started fairly brightly, but Arsenal were soon into their stride and dominating possession. However, there was a lot of 'umbrella' passing - back and across and in front of the packed defence - and chances were few and far between. I was particularly bemused by some of Trossard's positioning - ‘false 9’ is one thing, but the total lack of a focal point is another. It's probably too much to expect Declan Rice to rotate into the penalty area, but what confused me even more was what Havertz was doing.
Where one might expect the German to use his height and physical presence to put pressure on the Burnley defence, he seemed typically meek and unwilling to get properly involved; often wandering out towards the right wing and into Saka's area of the pitch, and thus crowding it even further than the standard doubling up that Starboy always seems to be faced with. Havertz did have a couple of chances; one shot over which he dithered, and a free header from a corner which ought to have hit the target. But he otherwise looked unwilling to take responsibility; to take the game by the scruff of the neck, so to speak. I'm seeing slight improvement on a match-by-match basis, but for a £65m German international player, well used to the demands of this league, and with the physical attributes that he has, he's been really quite disappointing on the whole. Certainly, Arteta had seen enough before the hour, and saw fit to give him the hook. Must do better.
I guess that it was merely a matter of time before Arsenal took the lead. As I said to my wife after around about 15 minutes; 'they're starting to wobble'. But I'm not going to go into too much detail regarding the goals. Apart from to say the following:
Firstly, Trossard's opener was down as much to his bravery as to his eye for an opportunity. He was willing to put his body on the line, and reaped the rewards. At first, we thought he'd hit his head on the goal post. Thankfully, he'll be suffering from nothing more than a bruised shoulder. A 6th goal of the season for the Belgian. And all 6 assisted by Saka. Remarkable. For me, by the way, Saka is on the way back to his imperious best after a shaky week or three.
Secondly, some flowers need to be delivered to set-piece coach Nicolas Jover. He’d identified a Burnley weakness at corners, and Arsenal bombarded the near post at every opportunity. There had been decent chances for both Gabriel and Havertz before the footballing demi-god that is William Saliba delivered the coup de grace early in the second half; losing his marker with ease and rising imperiously above keeper Trafford to head home from fully two yards out. That - coming only a couple of minutes after Burnley's surprise and massively deflected equaliser (was Tomiyasu fouled in the build-up?) - frankly finished the game as a contest.
The final goal once more gets an 'assist' from Jover, but all the credit must go to Zinchenko for a sublime scissor kick finish, reminiscent of a famous Paolo Di Canio goal of yesteryear. Simply stunning.
There only remains for me to discuss Fabio Vieira. Given half an hour by Arteta, he was neat and tidy, but unremarkable in his contributions, until the 83rd minute when a foolish mis-timed challenge saw him see red. It was late, high and studs up; for all that he apparently only had eyes for the ball. I initially thought yellow, but on seeing the replay I could offer no defence. As my good friend @mattkandela said on The Arsenal Opinion on-the-whistle podcast, Vieira 'managed to do something dangerous without looking vaguely threatening' - which made me chuckle. And with all the injuries in Arsenal's midfield this really doesn't help at all.
So that's three more points in the bag. Just one point behind leaders Manchester City (and what a titanic battle that was with Chelsea yesterday; the latter's second wild game in a week, in fact), and level but behind Liverpool on goal difference only going into the international break. Arsenal must take advantage, despite a tricky-looking visit to Brentford coming up - when those two sides face off in what is likely to be another titanic battle in their next fixture.
Just before I go... during the first half, Bukayo Saka was penalised for a push in the back on a Burnley player; Arsenal very nearly scored at the end of that action, as it happens. It was a foul; of that there is no doubt. But it wasn't anything as blatant as the previous week's push by Joelinton on Gabriel. Anyone would think that the PGMOL have an agenda against Arsenal or something? Still; there's very little evidence of that - apart from the 400pp dossier sitting in Arteta's top drawer!
Wishing you all a pleasant and not too boring an interlull. I'll be back in a couple of weeks. COYG!
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