'We are two more 1-0s away from heaven'
· Yahoo Sports
It would be an oversimplification to say that Arsenal struggled over the line on Monday night.
It was a narrow victory, but Burnley created 0.23 xG and were limited to zero shots on target.
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It wasn't as if Mikel Arteta kept the much-maligned handbrake on with his line-up. Starting with both Eberechi Eze and Martin Odegaard in midfield against a backdrop of Riccardo Calafiori, Leandro Trossard and Kai Havertz were choices that prioritised on-ball dynamism.
A team like that effectively says, you guys go forward, Declan Rice (with a little help from William Saliba and Gabriel) will take care of the rest.
And in the first half they did. Arsenal fulfilled pretty much all that was asked of them, apart from putting the ball in the net as frequently as we might have liked. Had Trossard's near-post drive after escaping the never-beaten Kyle Walker been centimetres to the right, Arsenal might've taken an earlier lead and done more damage.
But then came the second half, which lacked the clarity and aggression of the first. By all accounts, Havertz was lucky to escape a red card for his challenge on Lesley Ugochukwu, though I would point to Phil Foden's similar tackle on Calvin Bassey and praise the eternal consistency of the refereeing in the Premier League for keeping him on the pitch.
"One-nil to the Arsenal", then. In a game where the opposition offered little, Arsenal did enough and I contemplated telling my brother not to attempt resuscitation if the worst happened.
"If we are to be champions, this is how we will do it. Football at this stage of the season is as much about intangibles as it is anything else. We are two more 1-0s away from heaven."
Find more from Scarlet Katz Roberts at the Goal Difference podcast