Arsenal took a huge step towards their first Premier League title in over 20 years this evening, with a 1-0 win over Burnley at the Emirates.
Kai Havertz netted the only goal of the game, with a superb first-half header, as set pieces proved vital for The Gunners yet again. Despite the odd chance for Burnley, it always felt comfortable for the hosts, who perhaps will wish they could have added more to their tally. However, one was enough for them, as it has been a lot this season, with the defence keeping a third consecutive Premier League clean sheet.
The result now means that if Manchester City drop points against Bournemouth tomorrow night, Mikel Arteta’s side will be crowned champions of England for the first time since 2004.
As It Happened
Burnley started strong and won back-to-back corners inside the opening minutes. However, they couldn’t make the most of the opportunity. Arsenal’s first chance also came from a set-piece, when Declan Rice saw his free-kick punched away by Max Weiss.
Minutes later, Leandro Trossard came close to an opening goal for The Gunners when his fierce strike clattered off the post. Arsenal continued to apply pressure, rarely allowing Burnley out of their own half, until the 26th minute when a Burnley break saw Hannibal fire narrowly wide with a volley. The Tunisian midfielder was then shown the first yellow card of the night for accumulative fouls.
Eberechi Eze was next up to try and break the deadlock. He turned impressively but saw his volley comfortably caught by Weiss. Shortly after, Bukayo Saka had huge appeals for a penalty waved away by tonight’s referee, Paul Tierney. A VAR check followed, but it was cleared.
The hosts’ skipper Martin Ødegaard came close moments later, when his left-footed effort was deflected wide off a Burnley defender. The resultant corner did see the deadlock broken, however, when a mighty leap from Havertz got the better of The Clarets’ defence and with the German heading home an opening goal following a delicious delivery from Saka.
Saka himself came close shortly after with a curling effort that nearly nestled into the top corner, bringing the first half to a close. During the break, the news of Pep Guardiola’s potential exit from Manchester City was broken, with it looking likely that this Sunday will be his final match in charge of the club.
Jaiden Anthony was at the heart of Burnley’s first attack of the second half, but his strike drifted over the crossbar. Trossard and Havertz then linked up nicely down the left flank, with the latter picking out Eze in the box, who saw his header blocked at close range.
Saka then came close to adding a second for the hosts just before the hour mark when his strike flashed into the side netting. Havertz was added to Tierney’s notebook minutes later after a late challenge on Lesley Ugochukwu; some will think he was perhaps lucky that the VAR review didn’t upgrade it to a red card.
Burnley made the first changes of the night, with Hannibal and Ugochukwu replaced by Zeki Amdouni and Josh Laurent. Arsenal then followed by making a triple change which saw Havertz, Eze and Riccardo Califiori replaced by Viktor Gyökeres, Miles Lewis-Skelly and Piero Hincapié.
James Ward-Prowse was introduced for the visitors with little more than 10 minutes of regular time remaining, as he replaced Florentino. As the clock continued to wind down, he was then joined by Bashir Humphreys and Jacob Bruun Larsen, who replaced Loum Tchaouna and Maxime Estevé.
Trossard nearly found a much-wanted second goal for Arsenal in the closing stages, but he was unable to keep his volley down. Tempers flared in the first minute of injury time, after Zian Flemming barged David Raya in the air and was subsequently shown a yellow card.
Arsenal’s final changes of the night saw Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Zubimendi replace Trossard and Ødegaard for the remainder of stoppage time. Lucas Pires received the visitors’ third yellow of the night moments later after a high foot.
Martinelli perhaps had a chance to wrap up the win for Arsenal in the 95th minute, but he was thwarted by Kyle Walker, who did well to make up lost ground on the Brazilian. Burnley looked to grab an unlikely equaliser, but could only run into an imperious Gabriel in the Arsenal box, whose defensive work confirmed a vital win for The Gunners and moved them within touching distance of the title.