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Arsenal failed to win again as Mikel Arteta's side fell to a mediocre Burnley side. The Gunners have not won in five games in the Premier League and Mikel Arteta has a job on his hands to turn the club's fortunes around.
Arsenal hosted 18th place Burnley, with both teams needing a win to kickstart their season. The Gunners made it six wins out of six in the Europa group stages on Thursday night and would've been hoping that their stellar form in Europe would pass on into the Premier League as well.
However that was not to be, as Mikel Arteta's side, currently 15th in the table were beaten by a poor Burnley team, after the Gunners were brought down to 10 men with Granit Xhaka being sent off in the second half.
The game wasn't a classic by any means of the word. To be fair, both teams did have a golden opportunity to break the deadlock in the first half. Burnley striker Chris Wood found himself free in the box but skewed his header wide of the post. As for Arsenal, Kieran Tierney put in a great ball, after a slick move by Arsenal, but Alexandre Lacazette's shot was saved by the feet of Nick Pope.
The 2nd half started much brighter for Arsenal, as they went in search of what would be their 11th goal in eleven Premier League games. Chances for Saka and Tierney were thwarted by the reliable Pope in goal. But all of Arsenal's good work was undone due to a moment of idiocy by Granit Xhaka. The Swiss international fouled Dwight McNeil on the halfway line. That challenge alone was enough to warrant a yellow card, but the Swiss got into it with McNeil after the challenge, which led to a bit of a scuffle between a group of players in the middle of the park.
Xhaka reacted by putting his hand around Ashley Westwood's throat and pushing him to the ground, while the Burnley man tried to calm things down. The referee who originally gave Xhaka a yellow card for the tackle, changed his decision to a red card after reviewing the incident on the pitchside monitor as Mikel Arteta's men were now forced to play the majority of the 2nd half with ten men.
Things went from bad to worse for the Gunners as misfiring striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put the ball into the back of his own neck following a Burnley corner.
Although Arsenal did make a considerable effort to find an equaliser in the game, they made no decisive chances in the second half as they fell to their 4th home defeat on the trot as Burnley held on to win 1-0.
With that being said, here are Arsenal's player ratings from the game.
Arsenal player ratings
Bernd Leno: 5/10
The Arsenal goalkeeper couldn't do anything about the goal, but he was solid throughout the match. Leno did have some shaky moments on occasion, when Arsenal tried to play out from the back.
Hector Bellerin: 4/10
Completely ineffective in the game. Bellerin made overlapping runs but had no end product throughout the game. The full-back's positioning was terrible throughout and he was lucky not to be punished by a mediocre Burnley side.
Rob Holding: 5.5/10
Holding was solid at the back and kept the Burnley strikers quiet throughout the night. He did well in making some important blocks and clearances in the second half.
Gabriel: 6/10
A commanding performance from Gabriel as he dealt with the physicality of the Burnley forwards well all night. The Brazilian was commanding in the air and marshalled the Arsenal defense well after going down to 10 men in the second half.
Kieran Tierney: 7/10
Arsenal's best player on the night, Tierney was a menace down the left flank as he whipped in crosses and created chances for his teammates.
Mohamed Elneny : 5/10
Elneny didn't do anything wrong during the game, but had no affect on proceedings. The Egyptians played tidy passes, but didn't provide any creativity from Arsenal's midfield.
Granit Xhaka: 1/10
Unbelievable moment of stupidity from Xhaka. Could this be the last time he wears an Arsenal shirt?
Willian: 4/10
Willian tried to make things happen for the Gunners throughout the game but his final ball was often left wanting. He also tried multiple corner routines that didn't work. The winger's been poor all season, and that didn't change today.
Bukayo Saka: 6/10
Saka combined well with Tierney down the left wing, but it looks as if the young Englishman might be suffering from burnout due to the amount of fixtures he's played for club and country over the past month.
Alexandre Lacazette: 5/10
Lacazette started in the unfamiliar No. 10 role again but was ineffective for large parts of the game as Arsenal's attacks were concentrated down their flanks. The Frenchman could have had a brace, if not for the excellent Pope in Burnley's goal.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: 5.5/10
The Arsenal captain had his best game in an Arsenal shirt for a while, being involved in almost every significant Arsenal attack, as he looked to break his duck. Aubameyang found the back of the wrong net though, as he glanced his defensive header in for an own goal.
Arsenal substitutes
Dani Ceballos: 5/10
Ceballos came on for Lacazette in the 60th minute, as Arsenal were down to 10 men. The Spaniard brought about a sense of urgency in midfield, although not everything he tried came off for him.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles: 5.5/10
Maitland-Niles replaced the poor Bellerin in the 73rd minute and did well to bomb up and down the right flank. The young Englishman has surely done enough in the last few weeks to warrant a run in the starting XI.
Eddie Nketiah: 5/10
Nketiah replaced Willian in the 83rd minute but wasn't on long enough to make an impact on the game.
