Monday, 19 February 2024

February 19, 2024

Following on from last week’s 6-0 demolition of West Ham in the ‘Declan Rice Derby’, Arsenal took on Burnley at Turf Moor.

The Arsenal team remained unchanged from last time out at the London Stadium, whilst the starting XI remained unchanged, a few academy prospects did make it to the bench for the first time in their careers.

Arsenal started quickly with a superb half-volley by skipper Martin Ødegaard finding the bottom right-hand corner with only 4 minutes played. This would ultimately go on to set the tone for the rest of the match.

One became two after Leandro Trossard was brought down inside the penalty area, Bukayo Saka stepped up and made no mistake as he converted the penalty into the back of the net. The gunners headed in at the break in complete control, and arguably should have scored more.

Burnley’s hopes of a second-half turnaround were dashed before they could even start after Ødegaard slid in Saka who rifled his shot past James Trafford into the roof of the net. With Burnley deflated, Arsenal continued to pile on the pressure. A loose ball in the penalty area fell to Leandro Trossard who found the back of the net for the second game running, putting the result past all reasonable doubt.

The remaining 20 minutes of the game then saw Mikel Arteta subbing off his star players, a decision I would suggest demonstrates the Arsenal manager has learnt further from the end of last season. This saw minutes for the likes of Emile Smith Rowe, Reiss Nelson, Cedric Soares, and Eddie Nketiah.

Before Smith Rowe came on however, Kai Havertz made a brilliant run, beat his man with a superb piece of skill, and fired home to put the icing on the cake and cap off another superb display from the Gunners.

It’s scary to think this Arsenal team are still missing key players, with the likes of Fabio Vieira, Thomas Partey, Jurrien Timber, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Gabriel Jesus all still to come back.

The day went on to get even better for Arsenal fans, with North London rivals Tottenham getting beaten at home at the hands of Wolves, and fierce title rivals Manchester City being held to a draw at the Etihad by Chelsea.

With the away end at Turf Moor in full voice, the fans were singing “Stadiums are empty, everywhere we go, everywhere we goooooo.”

Undeniably, something this time around feels different, there is a new steel and a stronger mental edge to the Gunners this season, and the fans in that stadium, and the fans worldwide, will be hoping that they can go one better come the end of this season.

The post “Stadiums are empty everywhere we go” – Burnley 0-5 Arsenal appeared first on AFTV.

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