Sleepy Arsenal awaken to overwhelm toothless Burnley with aerial prowess

Crisis averted. In fact Arsenal barely engaged with it. While they fell well below their usual standards in attack, shipped a mildly controversial equaliser and even contrived to end a tepid game with 10 men after Fábio Vieira saw red, they still won with something to spare after discovering thatBurnleywere completely unable to deal with high crosses into the box.

The frustration for Vincent Kompany was that his side were not even blown away by a display of scintillating passing. Arsenal, who moved level on points with Manchester City at the top, simply used their aerial power to punch through with goals from Leandro Trossard, William Saliba and Oleksandr Zinchenko. Burnley, who remain in 19^th place, were far too callow to take advantage of Arsenal’s sloppiness.

Arsenal seemed sleepy. The absence of Ødegaard and his insistent passing made it difficult for them to vary the angles in attack, while Burnley succeeded in restricting Bukayo Saka’s influence during the early stages. Saka, who had been passed fit after limping off during themidweek win over Sevilla, could not get on the ball at first and Arteta felt compelled to usher the winger over to the touchline for a few conversations about his positioning during the first 20 minutes.

Yet with Burnley offering little as an attacking force, Arsenal were able to ease themselves into the contest. Tired of all the careful, inoffensive passing, Saka unleashed some of his frustration when he had Arsenal’s first shot on target and forced James Trafford to make a fine save. Zinchenko, ostensibly at left-back, popped up on the right and created an opening for Kai Havertz with a lovely flick. Five minutes later Havertz, still short of conviction on the right of a midfield three, looked pained after fluffing a decent headed chance.

It was still not happening for the German, who drew exasperated sighs when he slowed a promising counterattack with a poor pass in the 36^thminute. While Trossard still managed to get his shot away, forcing Trafford into another leaping stop, Arsenal were not making it easy for themselves. They could even have fallen behind after an error from Saliba, only for Raya to deny Johann Berg Gudmundsson.

Time for a meltdown? Not quite. Instead of raging about another refereeing injustice, Arsenal stayed composed. Gabriel Martinelli immediately broke down the left and tested Trafford. From Trossard’s resulting corner Trafford flapped and Saliba headed in from a yard.

Arsenal proceeded to tighten their grip. It was not long before another set-piece led to more shenanigans in the Burnley defence, allowing Zinchenko to guide in a measured shot from 18 yards. Vieira’s red card following a poor challenge on Brownhill in the 83^rd minute made no difference.