Arsenal returned to winning ways with victory over Burnley in the early Saturday kick-off, in a fiery and physical encounter that left Unai Emery with yet another defensive injury.
Arsenal made a number of changes after their midweek clash with Spurs, and it seemed to work out pretty nicely as they took and held a rare first-half lead. However, Nacho Monreal was forced off with an injury in the opening period, which very much changed the dynamic of the game.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang doubled Arsenal’s lead quickly after the break, but Burnley pulled one back to set up an anxious final half hour. Eventually, Alex Iwobi killed the game with a goal in stoppage time. Overall, a hard-earned three points.
Let’s have a look at our individual player ratings for the game.
4Substitutes
Stephan Lichtsteiner 6.5
Lichtsteiner came on and did a decent job out of position, once again. He won seven out of his 11 duels, just one fewer than Sokratis, but remains a little slow on the ball. Arsenal’s style of play requires him to move it on a bit faster, so that’s the only major criticism of his performance.
Lucas Torreira 6.5
Is it blasphemy to give Torreira less than a seven out of 10? The Uruguayan has been Arsenal’s player of the season so far, but he took a little while to get up to speed in this one.
He struggled with three aerials in quick succession after coming on, but he made up for it with a few tackles before the end. It was a decent cameo, but not the near-perfection we’ve become accustomed to.
Alex Iwobi 7
Iwobi only had six touches of the ball after coming on, but pretty much all of them were flashpoints. First, he drew groans after hesitating and losing the ball, though it squirmed through for Kolasinac to cross anyway. Then he created a chance for Özil before he ended up scoring when the German’s shot landed at his feet via a deflection.
It was great to see the Nigerian international finding the net for the first time since the game against Chelsea in August. He needs to do so more regularly now.