Arsenal were so close to joining the list of Premier League big boys to come a cropper this weekend, after Liverpool lost and Man United, Tottenham and Man City only managed a point. The Gunners needed a 97 minute penalty to claim all three points off Burnley and what an important spot kick it was.
I am not going to say that Arsenal were lucky though, as we had lots of chances to score before Granit Xhaka’s bad tackle was given the heaviest punishment by the referee. We have seen lots of tackles like that and worse escape without a sending off this season and we should have had a penalty before that anyway.
That cooly taken kick was not only decisive in regards to the result today. It could be crucial in regards to the whole season because if we had dropped points it would have been a huge boost for Chelsea, for whom everything seems to be going right at the minute, including the officials failing to give Hull City a nailed on penalty which would have made it 1-1 at Stamford Bridge.
All Arsenal can do is win our games and with the next one after Watford in the league being against Chelsea it was vital that we kept as close as possible this weekend. No one else but Arsenal put any pressure on the leaders so does that make us the only realistic challengers to Antonio Conte and his Teflon team?
Bob.