Kevin Whitcher
So, 20 years of Arsene Wenger managing Arsenal, a period that officially begain with an away win in Lancashire, although against Blackburn, not Burnley. And yesterday was a game that reminded me of many I have seen in that time, especially in more recent years. The Gunners come up against a defensive side and spend most of the game trying to knock down the door.
In the end persistence paid off. With no small slice of good fortune. Two minutes of injury time and the award of a late Arsenal corner. So late I thought that if they played it short the referee would actually blow his whistle to halt proceedings. It was played short, but remember, the rule is that “a minimum of X minutes will be added on” where the 4th official’s board is concerned. It is just that refs have got into the habit of blowing more or less right on the minute that time is up, although technically, if there are 2 minutes and 55 seconds to be played, the 4th official’s board will still show a 2.
Regardless, it was played short and the ref allowed the attack to continue, and from Theo Walcott’s flicked header, it later transpired that the Ox kicked Kos’s boot (if he had made contact with the ball, the goal would have been offside). Kos’s boot connected with the ball, which was in the process of flying over the bar… but as luck would have it, the ball collided with his arm and was redirected into the net. Definitely no intent, but I am no expert on the rules. Are you telling me that if that had been a defender’s arm blocking a shot on the goal-line the ref would not have awarded a penalty?
Still, Burnley can agonise over that. As Arsenal fans, we’ll take it, and on intent to take three points from the match, the visitors deserved their win, even if the quality seen in the games against Chelsea and Basel was lacking. That was no great surprise, as few could have expected three performances of that standard in the space of nine days. And of course, the opposition’s players did not have a match in the middle of the week. The other thing to remember is that Burnley’s tactical approach to the game was not altered by the inconvenience of a goal until it was too late.
Sean Dyche’s team could actually have won the match, as they had three excellent chances from headers, one of which hit the bar. Arsenal were generally foiled and clear cut chances were few and far between, especially in the first half, when they failed to stretch their opponents’ defence and found passes frequently blocked off.
Things improved after the interval, and Alexis carved out two good chances to score. Iwobi and Xhaka were subbed with the Ox and Elneny replacing them. Iwobi is generally removed from the fray regardless of how well he is playing, which is presumably to guard against injury from overplaying, given his age. The Plan B option of Giroud was unavailable, and whether or not Lucas Perez would have got any more joy than the options that were on the bench for Wenger is difficult to say. Walcott put a curler just wide after great persistence and combativeness from Alexis to set up the chance, and you got the feeling it just wasn’t going to be.
However, Arsenal kept pressing and contrived the late winner. With Manchester City being defeated at Tottenham, it’s become a lot tighter at the top, and once again, many will start to believe in the possibility of a genuine Arsenal title challenge. The manager was interviewed by Thierry Henry during the week for Sky Sports, and indicated that it was always the plan to try Alexis as the central striker this season. Certainly, Arsenal needed to try something else in attack after the goals dried up so badly for Giroud soon after the turn of the year, and the Gunners attack is a bit more pacy as a result, Alexis harrying of defenders more productive than the slower number 12’s. That though, is of less use when playing against a massed ranks defence as seen at Turf Moor, and in the end, it was persistence, pressure and fortune that won the day.
The team are in a good place going into the international break, although whisper it quietly, they have a run of three winnable Premier League games before the North London derby when they return. Next up is Swansea at home though, and we all know how that particular fixture normally turns out. Perhaps, 2016-17 will be different. It needs to be.
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