Wasteful Arsenal held to a goalless draw at Burnley; trail fourth-placed Chelsea by 10 points in EPL table
Arsenal's Matteo Guendouzi (left) and David Luiz wear a dejected look after their 0-0 draw against Burnley at Turf Moor yesterday. Pic/AFP
Burnley: Arsenal lost more ground in the race to finish in the Premier League's top four after being held to a 0-0 draw at Burnley on Sunday. Mikel Arteta's side are trailing 10 points behind fourth placed Chelsea and look certain to fall well short of the Champions League places. It was another frustrating afternoon for Arteta, who saw his team squander several chances to take the lead in a match they could easily have lost with better finishing from Burnley. Arsenal are without a win in their last four league games, having drawn all four of them, and Arteta has won just once in seven league matches since replacing the sacked Unai Emery.
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Arteta can point to only one defeat in that period and there is no doubt Arsenal are more competitive than they were under Emery. Even so, they still look creaky at the back and lack a cutting edge up front, a concerning issue given the supposed wealth of attacking options in Arteta's squad. Arsenal have now drawn five consecutive away league matches for the first time since August 1948 and actually sit closer to the relegation zone -- seven points away -- than the top four.
New signings Cedric Soares and Pablo Mari were missing from the Arsenal squad due to fitness concerns. But Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang returned after serving a suspension for his red card at Crystal Palace. Mesut Ozil made his 250th Arsenal appearance after reports Arteta has blocked the German from joining a Qatari club. Ozil and Aubameyang combined to carve open the Burnley defence in the opening moments, but Alexandre Lacazette headed wide from the Gabon striker's cross. Arteta had his players run into boxing bags at the club's training ground this week in an unusual attempt to prepare for the physical test posed by Burnley.
Work ethic
Arsenal were up for the challenge, moving the ball quickly and with purpose at times. But Aubameyang should have done better than shoot harmlessly wide after getting behind Matt Lowton to reach David Luiz's long pass. After a slow start, Burnley threatened when Jay Rodriguez tested Bernd Leno with a stinging drive before Dwight McNeil blasted just over. Arsenal remained dangerous on the counter and Burnley keeper Nick Pope did well to block Aubameyang's chip. Kept in the contest by their relentless work ethic, Burnley could have snatched the lead when Jeff Hendrick scooped wastefully over from McNeil's cross.
Arsenal suffered a blow when young left-back Bukayo Saka was forced off at the interval after initially playing through his first-half injury. Arteta's defence were exposed in the air time and again as Burnley dominated after half-time. They stood rooted to the spot when James Tarkowski headed a free-kick wide before Hendrick nodded past the post from McNeil's cross.
Aubameyang has seven goals in four games against Burnley, but he couldn't break the deadlock this time, diving to head wide from Lacazette's cross. Rodriguez should have won it for Burnley when he met McNeil's cross with a close-range volley that hit the bar and bounced down on the line, with goalline technology confirming the whole ball did not go over.
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Arsenal have now drawn five consecutive away league matches for the first time since August 1948
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