Arsenal Player Ratings vs. Burnley: Familiar and Welcome Type of Agony

Kai Havertz shifted the pressure onto Manchester City in a victory befitting Arsenal’s season.

Kai Havertz was fortunate to stay on the pitch. | Glyn KIRK/AFP/Getty Images

LONDON — There was so much about Arsenal’s 1–0 win over Burnley on Monday night which was all too familiar. The scoreline, the nature of the goal and the anxious agony that came with the closing stages for a nervy Emirates crowd had all been seen plenty of times before. The ecstasy that may await, however, would be very new.

Kai Havertz’s towering header from a Bukayo Saka corner proved to be the slender difference as the Gunners made painfully hard work of their already relegated visitors. Mikel Arteta’s league leaders dominated the first half, snatching a deserved winner in the 37th minute, but eventually let the weight of the moment sink onto their shoulders, slipping deeper and deeper as the minutes of stoppage time ticked by slowly. There was more relief than anything else at the final whistle.

Victory put Arsenal five points clear of a freshly unsettled Manchester City, who know they must defeat Bournemouth on Tuesday to even take the title race to the final day. The Gunners, one way or another, held up their end of the bargain.

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One Thing We Can’t Ignore

Arsenal’s season has been defined by set pieces. | Catherine Ivill-AMA/Getty Images

“They will be relaxed,” Martin Ødegaard warned in his prematch program notes. “But tonight, it’s all about us.” Burnley and their traveling contingent must have been the only ones anywhere near north London who could be considered ‘relaxed.’

Everything about the Emirates had a wide-eyed mania to it throughout the evening. Starting hours before kickoff as fans clogged the streets outside the ground to cheer on the team bus (Arsenal’s and, mistakenly, Burnley’s as well). Arteta was even more amped up than normal, twice catching the ball in the opening 25 minutes before it had even bounced out of play after his team had feverishly pressed Burnley into a wayward clearance.

Everyone was in a rush, including the clock. Fifteen minutes raced by with few snatched sights of goal and then the half-hour mark arrived, seemingly ahead of schedule. Just when the opening period threatened to race away, Arsenal found comfort in their most familiar setting: a corner.

There is a fluency to the way Arteta and his set-piece coach Nicolas Jover swap positions at the edge of the technical area at each dead ball; the manager instantly pirouettes away from center stage and exchanges a low, no-look high five with the quiet authority of a cult leader giving up his lectern for the most indoctrinated follower to spew his message to the masses.

Arsenal had played two short corners from the same side to mild groans from the stands. Even though this proved to be the decisive route to goal against Newcastle United, the fans remain perennially hungry for the familiar in-swinging cross. It would arrive in the 37th minute.

Saka flung the ball into the box to tee up a goal of wonderful simplicity: Havertz simply jumped higher than everyone else. This was the 19th different Premier League game in which Arsenal have scored a set piece (more than half) which matches the competition record, per Opta. There’s every chance they surpass that high watermark against Crystal Palace next weekend—if the league leaders play with the same nervousness as the second half, they may have to.

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Arsenal Player Ratings vs. Burnley (4-1-2-3)

Riccardo Calafiori lined up at left back. | Alex Burstow/Arsenal FC/Getty Images

*Ratings provided by FotMob*

GK: David Raya—7.0: As much of a spectator as the 60,000 stuffed into the stands.

RB: Cristhian Mosquera—6.7: Spent precious little time defending, which, as it quickly became clear, is his strength compared to anything in the attacking third.

CB: William Saliba—7.1: Breezed around the pitch with a sense of lofty authority.

LB: Riccardo Calafiori—7.0: Given so much licence to roam he almost found his way onto Holloway Road.

DM: Declan Rice—7.9: The only source of ballast in Arsenal’s airy midfield, Rice marshaled large swathes of green grass with confidence.

CM: Martin Ødegaard—6.8: Flitted around the final third like a tip-toeing forest nymph.

CM: Eberechi Eze—7.3: Willing to shoot from wherever he found himself on the pitch, Eze still managed to force two good saves and hit the crossbar.

RW: Bukayo Saka—8.0: Tormented poor Lucas Pires throughout the contest.

ST: Kai Havertz—7.9: It was brilliant leap to break the deadlock, climbing head and shoulders above Maxime Esteve to nod the ball down and Arsenal 1–0 up.

LW: Leandro Trossard—7.4: Represented the physical embodiment of the title race as he found himself directly up against former Manchester City stalwart Kyle Walker. Much like the table, Trossard found a way beyond the waning figure in sky blue.

SUB: Piero Hincapié (72’ for Calafiori)—6.3

SUB: Myles Lewis-Skelly (73’ for Eze)—6.2

SUB: Viktor Gyökeres (73’ for Havertz)—6.3

SUB: Martín Zubimendi (90’ for Ødegaard)—N/A

SUB: Gabriel Martinelli (90’ for Trossard)—N/A

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What These Ratings Tell Us

• Arteta named a bold lineup, starting Ødegaard and Eberechi Eze together in central midfield for only the second Premier League game this season and the first time since October, safe in the knowledge that his hosts would have all of the ball. There was some impish interplay between the pair but it didn’t lead to any tangible end product while they were both on the pitch.
• Havertz’s all-important goal was balanced by a fortuitous piece of refereeing. The German forward cynically halted a Burnley counterattack by reckless sinking his studs into the back of Lesley Ugochukwu’s calf. After a VAR review, it was generously deemed “not to be serious foul play,” as the Premier League would subsequently explain.

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The Numbers That Explain Arsenal’s Edgy Win

Arsenal knew Monday night’s game was absolutely must-win. | Alex Burstow/Arsenal FC/Getty Images

• Saka’s delivery for Havertz was the 50th assist of his Premier League career, becoming, in the process, the second youngest player to hit half a century of goals and assists in the competition’s history.
• Arsenal have now opened the scoring of 11 different top-flight games through corner kick goals, extending their own record in the competition.
• A 1–0 win for the Gunners is the second-most common scoreline of any Premier League fixture this season (eight times), second only to a 3–0 win for Manchester City.
• Burnley failed to register a single shot on target, but Arsenal still didn’t feel entirely in control.

Statistic	Arsenal	Burnley
Possession	61%	39%
Expected Goals (xG)	1.03	0.21
Total Shots	13	5
Shots on Target	3	0
Big Chances	1	0
Pass Accuracy	86%	78%
Fouls Committed	7	16
Corners	3	3

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