Arsenal made it five wins in a row for the first time this season as they thrashed Burnley 0-5 at a wet and windy Turf Moor.
Mikel Arteta opted to go with an unchanged XI from the record breaking 0-6 win away at West Ham the previous weekend. And the same team put in a similar showing as they put five past Vincent Kompany’s Burnley.
However, Arsenal didn’t have to wait half an hour to open the scoring this time, as captain Martin Odegaard fired his side ahead after just four minutes. Gabriel Martinelli found the Norwegian on the edge of the penalty area and he unleashed a powerful strike with his left foot into the bottom corner to give Arsenal a precious early lead.
The Gunners maintained complete control of the contest throughout the first half, with David Raya remaining a spectator. And they should have made it two when Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka linked up in the Burnley defensive third, the winger played the ball across to Leandro Trossard in the box but the Belgian scuffed his effort. However, Arsenal would get a second goal just before the break when Trossard was brought down in the box. Saka stepped up and scored from the spot for the second week running, this time with a precise strike into the bottom right hand corner to set Arsenal up nicely heading into the second half.
And Mikel Arteta’s side got off to the perfect start to the second half following the interval, as Odegaard played a pass to Saka on the right hand side of the box, and Arsenal’s starboy struck a vicious effort into James Trafford’s near top corner to all but seal the game before the fifty minute mark. But they weren’t done there, as Leandro Trossard got his goal following another chance missed, as he found the bottom corner with a left-footed finish after the ball bounced off a Burnley defender from a Havertz effort.
The German would also get on the act to finish the game, as he broke into the Burnley half and superbly nutmegged his man before calmly slotting home for five. The game was saw out with Raya having very little to do in what was another extremely impressive afternoon was pretty much every Arsenal player and the win never looked in doubt as soon as Odegaard opened the scoring.
Arsenal’s next fixture is a big one. Their first Champions League knockout tie since the 10-2 aggregate loss to Bayern Munich in 2017, as they travel to Porto.
Player Ratings:
David Raya: 7 – Was mostly a spectator but made one save in the first half
Ben White: 7 – Strong game again from White who again found himself inverting on occasions
William Saliba: 7 – Untroubled for most of the evening but dealt well with what he had to do
Gabriel: 7 – Same as Saliba
Jakub Kiwior: 8 – Really good. Strong defensively and got an assist too. A man looking more and more at home at Arsenal
Declan Rice: 7 – Solid as usual
Martin Odegaard: 9 – Goal, assist, a fantastic performance from the captain
Kai Havertz: 8 – The German’s best Arsenal game so far. Caused problems with his movement and got a great goal too
Bukayo Saka: 9 – Another two goals from Arsenal’s starboy. A player in fantastic form
Leandro Trossard: 7 – Should’ve got more than the one goal he got but another strong performance from the Belgian as the false 9
Gabriel Martinelli: 7 – No goal again but the Brazilian worked tirelessly down the left and was always a threat