Arsenal extended their winning run to nine consecutive victories across all competitions with a commanding 2-0 win over Burnley, a result that reasserted their dominance at the top of the Premier League table and underlined the growing sense of belief under Mikel Arteta.
First-half headers from Viktor Gyökeres and Declan Rice settled the contest at Turf Moor, giving Arsenal an eighth league win from 10 and widening the gap to seven points at the summit ahead of Bournemouth’s Sunday game against Manchester City.
Arteta’s side have now taken 13 wins from their opening 15 matches of the campaign, suggesting that their progress over recent seasons has evolved into something altogether more complete.
“It’s a really tough place to come,” said Arteta afterwards. “I think we were exceptional from the first minute. We were so dominant, very fluent, we scored two goals and we could have scored another three or four.”
For all their control in the first half, Arsenal were made to work harder after the interval as Burnley pressed higher, but Rice’s leadership and discipline kept them steady through a scrappier second period.
The England midfielder, who doubled Arsenal’s lead with a towering header from Leandro Trossard’s cross, reflected on a performance that typified the side’s growing maturity.
“I’m so focused on and off the pitch,” he said. “Every weekend I know how important it is to win football matches. I realise the position we’re in and what we can achieve as a club.
“First half we were very, very good. Second half wasn’t our best performance, but we showed that other side of the game where we can be resilient, where we can defend for our lives and it really means something by not letting the ball go in the back of our net.”
The move leading to Rice’s goal encapsulated the everything Arteta demands. A long throw from Burnley was cleared by Gabriel Magalhães, flicked on by Bukayo Saka, and turned quickly into attack by a wonderful cross-field ball from Gyökeres, whose pass to Trossard was met with a cross of real quality.
Rice timed his run perfectly, meeting it like a centre forward. “Special, very, very special goal,” he said. “Big Gabi’s headed the ball like his life depends on it and then we’ve broken and the whole team reacts to that situation. When teams play really deep and set against us, these are the best moments to score when they’re open.”
Gyökeres enjoyed perhaps his best 45 minutes of football in an Arsenal shirt, extending his tally to six for the season before a muscular problem cut short his afternoon.
Martin Zubimendi also asked to come off in the second half after feeling something muscular himself, and we await further information on those problems. Zubimendi is suspended for the midweek Champions League game against Slavia Prague so would have been getting a rest, anyway.
After nine straight wins and just one defeat all season, Arsenal’s momentum looks formidable. For a side still fine-tuning its attack, the squad is starting to look like it has the hallmark of champions.