It was a moment to remember for Aaron Ramsey on Saturday as the Welshman made his 150th Premier League appearance and the midfielder made it more memorable by scoring the only goal of the game against Burnley to give Arsenal all the three points.
The Gunners started the game 7 points behind league leaders Chelsea, who play Queens Park Rangers on Sunday afternoon, but are now just 4 points behind their London rivals after their win against the Turf Moor side. It was an easy game for us on paper, but it turned out to be much more than that.
Wenger started with an unchanged line-up from the Liverpool game and the Gunners dominated the initial exchanges with Sanchez getting a good chance only to shoot it over the cross bar. However it didn’t take the Gunners much time to get on the score sheet virtue of a swift counter attack following an awry pass.
Coquelin collected the ball at the center line and his pass found Sanchez at the edge of the box, but his deflected pass found Ozil whose shot was parried away by the keeper, only to find the Chilean again who was again denied before Ramsey pounced on the loose ball to bury into the top of the net to give Arsenal deserved lead in the 12th minute.
The home side found their footing after the goal and had some decent chances including a crucial save by Ospina from a free kick. Cazorla also came close to hitting the net from a free kick only to curl it inches away from the top corner. Apart from a chance here and there, it was a pretty quite first half for both the teams.
Burnley started the second half on a strong note but weren’t able to pressurise the Arsenal defence. Arsenal had a quite start to the half but had a decent chance around the hour mark when Ozil found Ramsey inside the box, but the Welshman’s shot was blocked by Mee. The home side had their best chance on the 70 minute mark when Mee got past Bellerin to put in a beautiful ball for an unmarked Boyd who scuffed the shot.
However it was all Arsenal from that point as the Gunners raised the tempo in the last 20 minutes by frustrating the home side with possession and even had some close shaves. In the end, it was a comfortable win for the Gunners, while Burnley were left to rue their missed chances as they still remain second from last. Coming to Arsenal, they again managed to win dirty and Coquelin was again the man for the Gunners as he made an excellent 10 interceptions and the youngster was also involved in the opening goal.
Arsenal got what they wanted and now the pressure will be on Chelsea to respond, although I feel it’s a little too late for us to catch them. However we did what we can and need to continue what we are doing for the rest of the season and hope for the best(a slip up from Chelsea).
Will the 3 points put more pressure on Chelsea?
