Arsenal hammered Burnley 5-0 at Turf Moor on Saturday afternoon to move within two points of Liverpool at the top of the table.
Martin Odegaard gave Mikel Arteta’s side the lead after just four minutes, with Bukayo Saka adding a second shortly before half-time with a well-taken penalty.
The Englishman bagged his brace moments after the break, with Leandro Trossard and Kai Havertz adding some gloss to the scoreline later in the second half to punish a truly woeful Burnley display.
How the game unfolded
With Liverpool having won in the early kick-off slot and Manchester City still to play later in the day, there was huge pressure on Arsenal to avoid a slip-up at Turf Moor.
However, the Gunners shrugged off the weight of expectation just four minutes into proceedings, with Odegaard hammering home the opening goal of the game. The Norwegian collected Gabriel Martinelli’s pass on the edge of the box before rifling an exquisite low drive into James Trafford’s bottom corner.
Burnley grew into the game after a shaky start but couldn’t muster any real goalscoring opportunities, while Trossard perhaps should have doubled Arsenal’s lead midway through the half, but failed to connect with Saka’s pass from eight yards out.
The Gunners did eventually grab what felt an inevitable second with 41 minutes played, Lorenz Assignon conceding a penalty for his lunge on Trossard in the box. Saka, as he did in the exact same minute at West Ham United last time out, made no mistake from 12 yards.
It took Arsenal less than two minutes to kill the game after the restart and it was Saka who proved too much for Burnley’s defence to handle. The 22-year-old latched on to Odegaard’s incisive through ball and fired a venomous near-post strike beyond Trafford and into the roof of the net.
Trossard saw two efforts fly wide of Trafford’s goal after some sloppy Burnley passing but did finally net a deserved goal shortly afterwards. Havertz’s deflected toe-poke fell to the feet of the Belgian inside the penalty area, who showed great composure to bend into the far corner with his left foot.
But Arsenal weren’t done just yet at Turf Moor and it was Havertz who was next up to slice the Burnley defence open. The German picked up a long throw behind the hosts’ backline, drifting past Hannes Delcroix and slotting past Trafford to pour even more misery on the dismal Clarets.
Burnley player ratings (4-4-2)
GK: James Trafford – 5/10 – Left stranded by a disjointed defence and couldn’t stop Arsenal from filling their boots.
RB: Lorenz Assignon – 3/10 – The January recruit’s clumsy challenge offered Arsenal their second from the penalty spot, a goal that killed the contest. Struggled to cope with Martinelli’s speed.
CB: Dara O’Shea – 4/10 – Not his finest display for Burnley, but not the worst of a sorry bunch.
CB: Maxime Esteve – 4/10 – Not a good day for him or his Burnley teammates. The centre-back wasn’t helped too much by Delcroix as his side crumbled.
LB: Hannes Delcroix – 3/10 – Simply couldn’t handle the electric Saka, who will be occupying his nightmares for some time.
RM: Aaron Ramsey – 5/10 – Substituted with a nasty injury part way through the second half after a coming together with Odegaard. The midfielder wasn’t too involved before his withdrawal.
CM: Sander Berge – 5/10 – Enjoyed a strong performance at Anfield last weekend but couldn’t maintain that standard against the Gunners. Lost the midfield battle too easily.
CM: Josh Brownhill – 4/10 – Some sloppy passing handed the visitors second-half encouragement, with Brownhill not able to orchestrate any attacks going the other way.
LM: Wilson Odobert – 6/10 – A willing runner for the Clarets and showed some invention down the left flank. Offered no support by teammates.
ST: David Datro Fofana – 5/10 – Gave Burnley an outlet and at least tried to create some chaos in the Arsenal half. Just lacked quality with the ball at his feet.
ST: Zeki Amdouni – 5/10 – Couldn’t create anything for Burnley and didn’t receive much service himself. Hooked at the break.
Substitutes
SUB: Johann Berg Gudmundsson (46′ for Amdouni) – 5/10 – Unable to influence the game from the bench, with his side conceding a third just a minute after his introduction.
SUB: Charlie Taylor (62′ for Esteve) – 5/10
SUB: Jay Rodriguez (62′ for Ramsey) – 6/10
SUB: Vitinho (79′ for Assignon) – 5/10
SUB: Jacob Bruun Larsen (79′ for Odobert) – 5/10
Substitutes not used: Arijanet Muric (GK), Josh Cullen, Jack Cork, Manuel Benson.
Manager
Vincent Kompany – 3/10 – Absent from the touchline due to a ban and he will not have enjoyed what he witnessed from the stands. A gutless display from his side.
Arsenal player ratings (4-3-3)
GK: David Raya – 6/10 – Bar one intervention from a cross, Raya was a spectator at Turf Moor.
RB: Ben White – 7/10 – Tested by Odobert’s trickery and speed but stood up to the challenge with the help of Saka.
CB: William Saliba – 7/10 – The odd sloppy moment but they were likely the result of him having nothing to do for the most part. Still a solid outing from the Frenchman.
CB: Gabriel – 8/10 – The Brazilian won the majority of his duels and had no issues stifling Fofana.
LB: Jakub Kiwior – 8/10 – A really impressive display from the centre-back, who has not always looked comfortable on the left side of the defence. One important intervention to deny Fofana in the first half.
CM: Martin Odegaard – 9/10 – A delightful effort to ease any nerves among the Arsenal players. Given far too much space to pick his passes deep in Burnley territory.
CM: Declan Rice – 8/10 – Another characteristically complete performance from Rice, who was immense in both halves for the Gunners.
CM: Kai Havertz – 8/10 – Made some clever runs beyond the Arsenal front line to open up space and turn Burnley around. Took his goal wonderfully to add a fifth for the Gunners.
RW: Bukayo Saka – 9/10 – Took his penalty with great composure and was a constant menace in and around the penalty area. When in this form, who can stop him?
ST: Leandro Trossard – 8/10 – Won Arsenal’s penalty and was allowed to drift across the final third. Eventually got his goal but probably should have had more.
LW: Gabriel Martinelli – 7/10 – A frightening turn of speed was a thorn in Burnley’s side. Set up Odegaard’s opener and was a livewire throughout.
Substitutes
SUB: Reiss Nelson (69′ for Saka) – 7/10
SUB: Cedric Soares (69′ for White) – 6/10
SUB: Eddie Nketiah (69′ for Trossard) – 6/10
SUB: Jorginho (79′ for Rice) – 6/10
SUB: Emile Smith Rowe (84′ for Havertz) – N/A
Substitutes not used: Aaron Ramsdale (GK), Mohamed Elneny, Mauro Bandeira, James Sweet.
Manager
Mikel Arteta – 8/10 – An effortless performance from his side, who didn’t have to exert themselves too much to hammer Burnley. A great day for his attacking stars and a nice rest for his defenders.
