Despite the worrisome start to the season, Arsenal remain focused to get back on track in the Premier League as they won for the second-straight week thanks to Martin Odegaard netting the only goal of the match vs Burnley at Turf Moor.
“It was a hard-fought victory at a really tough place,” Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta said. “You have to be ready for a fight.”
Arsenal now have wins against Burnley and Norwich City this season.
“We have players who are not at their strength playing in this type of game, but they did their best and we got the win,” Arteta added. “I’m very proud of them defensively and I’m really pleased with the win. It’s two wins in a row, two clean sheets. Let’s go again. We have a lot to catch up!”
Burnley have now lost four of five. Odegaard scored on a free-kick while a Burnley second-half penalty was overturned by VAR.
Burnley are now winless in their last 13 Premier League home games overall.
“It was a good performance,” Burnley manager Sean Dyche said. “I feel like a broken record saying that lately. In the first half we didn’t do a lot wrong. In the second half I thought we smothered the game. It’s head-scratching that we didn’t score.”
11 different players had a shot for Burnley vs Arsenal this weekend.
Burnley got some extra juice off the bench with Maxel Cornet, but his shot on goal was denied by Ramsdale in one of the more exciting moments of the match.
“We created a couple of good-ish chances,” Dyche added. “We took the game on fantastically well, but you’ve got to find that killer edge. I thought we defended very well today and limited Arsenal to very few chances, which is difficult to do.”
Arteta expected a combative effort at Turf Moor and went with a 4-3-3 lineup with an attempt to counter Burnley’s long-ball approach.
“We had some big phases where I saw a lot of things that we want as a team,” Arteta said.
Gabriel’s activity — specifically his three tackles, eight clearances, two blocks and ten successful aerial duels — helped Arsenal withstand a barrage of attacks.
“We know he is a player with an incredible future,” Arteta said of Gabriel. “He has adapted really well to the league, that’s why we signed him. He understands what we want. It does not get much harder than playing here in the Premier League. I thought he was terrific today.”
Burnley have now lost their last 10 home matches overall vs Arsenal.
Burnley match up vs Leicester City next weekend while Arsenal get set for Tottenham.
