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A red card to Granit Xhaka summed up the current malaise at Arsenal after the Gunners suffered a loss at home to Burnley.
Hoping to leave his shy nature of goals behind, Arsenal pushed forward in the first part looking for a quick start.
In the space of 10 seconds, opportunities came and went for Alexandre Lacazette, Bukayo Saka and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as Burnley struggled to clear his lines.
This latest effort prompted penalty appeals via one hand, but the ball did not reach.
Burnley then turned down a glorious opportunity to punish the hosts through Chris Wood.
The New Zealand striker somehow found himself unmarked inside the Arsenal area. An excellent delivery from wide areas chose him with precision, but Wood couldn’t make contact with his head as the ball drifted aimlessly off his shoulder.
Opportunity for Burnley! 😱
The wood is not marked on the box, but the heads are open!
📺 See in Sky Sports PL
📱 Follow #ARSBUR here: https://t.co/Sc1sgsBe4z
📲 Download the @SkySports application! pic.twitter.com/Afq90mqWPG– Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 13, 2020
That moment was sandwiched between pressure from Arsenal, and Lacazette soon came close to breaking the deadlock.
A fluid movement down the left saw Kieran Tierney receive the ball from behind. The Scotsman chose Lacazette with precision, and his first effort was repelled by Nick Pope.
From the resulting corner, Gabriel Magalhaes headed wide in a possibility that his reaction suggested he should have done better.
Despite having 67 percent possession and taking eight shots, Arsenal’s familiar lack of edge continued as the score remained 0-0 at interval.
Arsenal tried more crosses in the first 45 minutes against Burnley than in the first half of any other Premier League game this season:
◉ 18 try
◎ 3 successful
◎ 2 opportunities createdThe definition of insanity is … pic.twitter.com/A1bWb2Ehl3
– Squawka Soccer (@Squawka) December 13, 2020
The Gunners created the first real chance of the second half, although Mikel Arteta could have expected the provider and pitcher to have reversed.
Aubameyang broke down the left before choosing Tierney from within the area. His control was immediate, but his right hand was well saved by Pope, who came down quickly.
Arsenal was closing in and Pope was soon called into action once more. A counterattack drove Willian away. Mimicking the previous opportunity in terms of positioning, he approached Saka, who shot a goal for the first time. Pope, who has returned to his best level in recent weeks, was up to the task.
Just as the hosts were increasing the pressure, Xhaka pressed the release valve as he picked up an unnecessary red card.
An altercation brought several players into a scrum, but Xhaka crossed the line by grabbing Ashley Westwood by the throat. His initial yellow card was canceled in favor of a red one via VAR.
Even by his standards, Xhaka getting a direct red for an overreaction to HIS OWN FAILURE is shockingly stupid.
– Michael Cox (@Zonal_Marking) December 13, 2020
With his dismissal the momentum of Arsenal was gone, and soon there was a much more even competition.
Things went from bad to worse for Arsenal when Aubameyang revived his scoring on the wrong side of the field.
The striker got up clearing an effervescent corner, but the ball shot out of his head, leaving Bernd Leno with little to do but pick up the ball from the net.
The situation could have been worse before the goal when Mohamed Elneny seemed lucky to get away with a yellow card as he appeared to raise his forearm in James Tarkowski’s face in the act of scoring.
To be fair, Arteta’s team showed spirit and continued to push for the tie, with Saka closing in if it weren’t for Ben Mee’s header.
However, time was against him and the curtains finally closed on another disappointing defeat for the Gunners.
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