A 10 man Arsenal side beat Burnley FC as Alexis Sanchez converts an injury time penalty for the gunners at the Emirates Stadium. The game was something that Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger will not be very proud of. But he will happily take the full three points with a broad smile on his face.
The game saw everything. From penalty claims, red card, potential red cards to injury time winners. Burnley started the game a little better than Arsenal, but after a few moments, it was all Arsenal and their attacking football. Arsenal made the Burnley goalkeeper work tirelessly as they fired 14 shots towards his goal. But up until the 45th minute, Arsenal had no goals to show their dominance.
And they walked into halftime 0-0.
In the second half, Arsenal were denied their first penalty claim as Mustafi was clearly challenged by A. Gray. And the replays confirmed the fact even further. But referee Jonathan Moss thought otherwise.
Arsenal finally had something to show for all their attacking football as Mustafi broke the deadlock on the hour mark. This was the first goal for the Gunner and Arsenal finally could breathe easy.
But then the drama had just started. Referee Jonathan Moss sent off Granit Xhaka in the 66th minute after a reckless challenge on Defour. But replays indicated that the challenge may not have been worthy of a straight red.
As a result of all this chaos, a rather long injury time was awarded at the stroke of the 90th minute. But who knew that these minuted will become the talking point of the whole match. Burnley won themselves a penalty as Coquelin tripped Barnes in the penalty box. And suddenly Burnley were level with only a few minutes to hold on.
But Burnley still had one more mistake in them. And it turned out to be a game-changing one. Burnley’s Ben Mee was penalized for a high boot in the box and as a result, Arsenal got a penalty in the 98th minute. Alexis Sanchez stepped up to take the penalty and he did not miss. Catapulting the Gunners to a dramatic win.
The win takes Arsenal to the second spot in the Premier League as they leaf frog over Tottenham. Next up, Arsenal travel to Southampton to face them in the FA Cup.
