We were hoping for an easy game last week against Southampton, but Arsenal were undone by a lack of any cohesive defenders. But we were able to breath a little bit more easily this week back at home again, and although the Clarets gave as good as they got in the first 15 minutes, the Ozil effect came into play. He made some space in the box and crossed it perfectly into the path of Kolasinac who picked out Aubameyang in the middle rather than blast one himself. Excellent move by the Gunners and we could all relax a little now we had the lead. Could we actually be leading a League game at half-time for once?
The game then went into a lull as Burnley refused to concede another and they started to fight a lot more for the ball, and the legs of the Arsenal players, and anything else they could kick within range. It started off with a wrestling match between Barnes and Sokratis and then all the other players joined in. Barnes got a yellow, and it didn’t take long for Sokratis to join him as the feud continued. This is the Burnley we know and love! Unbelievably we got another defensive injury as Monreal went off shaking his head and Lichtsteiner came on, and we finally made it to the break with our first lead of the season.
The physical battle continued in the second half but Arsenal fans fears were put to rest when Aubameyang doubled our lead after just three minutes, but if anything it just made Burnley even more aggressive. The yellow cards were flying about with both sides getting stuck in, and Torreira was introduced with half an hour to go, but suddenly Burnley got one back through that man Barnes after a game of snooker in the Arsenal box, and now we have another fight on our hands.
Arsenal try holding onto the ball for awhile, but when Lacazette gets replaced by Iwobi, the Frenchman is not at all happy and lets his manager know it. We really just need to keep calm and hold onto this lead. Iwobi gets involved in a forward move and nearly gets Auba up for his hat-trick, but time is very slowly ticking away.
Burnley keep attacking but Arsenal break away, and with Ozil failing to control the ball in the Burnley box suddenly it falls to Iwobi, who makes no mistake and puts it away for his first goal of the season.
So Arsenal finally lead a game at half time, and Aubameyang is now the leader in the race for the Golden Boot! Not to mention that my tip for the day was a 3-1 win to the Arsenal!
Come on You Gunners!!