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In their second game of the season, Arsenal recorded a 2-1 victory over a very competitive Burnley side. The Gunners took the lead through an Alexandre Lacazette strike in the 13th minute. The goal came from a Dani Ceballos corner but in essence, the Frenchman created the goal himself as he held off two defenders to poke the ball past Nick Pope whilst falling to the ground. In response, Burnley’s persistence in attack would pay a dividend as Ashley Barnes would pounce on a deflected cross to stab the ball home from six yards out.
The second half followed the same pattern of Arsenal struggling to create chances while the Clarets continuously pumped long balls into the box. It was only in the 64th minute where a moment of brilliance from Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang put the game to bed. For the first time in 10 years, Arsenal has won their opening two games of a league campaign.
Here are five talking points from Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Burnley.
#5 Nacho Monreal resurgence
Arsenal made it one of their number one priority to sign a left-back during the summer window. It was only on deadline day that the Gunners finally secured Kieran Tierney for £25million. With all that business and Emery’s supposed fondness of Sead Kolašinac, Nacho Monreal’s days were seemingly numbered at the Emirates. Instead, the Spaniard has started the first two games of the season and been named as one of Emery’s five captains.
Many felt that the 33-year-old’s time in North London was up, due to him being clearly past his best. In response, Monreal put in a solid shift against a relentless Burnley attack. The Spaniard completed 2 dribbles, 53 passes 3 of which were chances, won 5 aerial duels and made 5 clearances. The captain put in a performance that lead by example, especially in a team filled with youngsters.
#4 Is Ashley Barnes underrated?
In the year of 2019, only Sadio Mane and Sergio Aguero have scored more Premier League goals than Ashley Barnes. The 29-year-old has netted on 12 occasions this year, making him one of the most lethal strikers in the league. In his Premier League career so far, Barnes has directly contributed to 74 goals in 138 matches, equating to a better than 1 in 2 ratio.
The 29-year-old was a threat to Arsenal all afternoon. He rotated between Sokratis and David Luiz in who to challenge for a long ball. In another good performance against the Gunners, Barnes won 5 aerial duels, completed 8 passes, attempted 5 shots and scored 1 goal. I know we’re only two games into the season, but Barnes is the top scorer in the league with 3 goals to his name.
#3 Nelson and Willock retain their places
Many felt the duo were in last week’s starting XI only due to the lack of match fitness of others, but Emery continued to place faith in them in the 2nd game week of the season. The two 19-year-olds retained their places in the starting line-up for the second consecutive week, with the likes of Nicolas Pepe and Lucas Torreira sitting on the bench.
Reiss Nelson had a much more subdued performance in comparison to last week. The 19-year-old only completed 10 passes and attempted 2 shots on goal. Perhaps if his disallowed goal had been given, we’d be talking about his performance in a different light. On the other hand, Joe Willock put in another good performance to effectively cement his place in Arsenal’s midfield. The youngster completed 63 passes, 3 successful take-ons and attempted 2 tackles in another solid outing for the 19-year-old.
#2 David Luiz debut
Up against a physical duo in Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes, Unai Emery decided to drop Calum Chambers despite a good performance against Newcastle and give David Luiz his Arsenal debut. The Spaniard perhaps felt the pairing of Luiz and Sokratis Papastathopoulos would be more suited to the direct approach of Burnley. Sean Dyche’s men pride themselves on hitting long balls into the box in hope that their two target men will win the aerial duels.
David Luiz started well, winning several duels and displaying a few flashes of brilliance on the ball. However, the precious clean sheet Arsenal fans wanted from this pairing didn’t come, as an unmarked Barnes poked home in the 40th minute. Nonetheless, Luiz completed every one of his tackles he attempted, made 7 clearances, won 2 aerial duels and completed 48 passes in a relatively successful debut.
#1 Dani Ceballos is a world-class talent
There’s a reason why Dani Ceballos was named the Player of the Tournament at the U21 Euros. Against Burnley, Ceballos announced himself to the Premier League in outlandish fashion. The 23-year-old was simply unplayable at times, leaving Arsenal fans to pray that a deal for his permanent capture could happen next summer.
The Spaniard played in behind the striker in the #10 role, looking to be the link between midfield and attack. Although Mesut Özil was unfit for today, Dani Ceballos may have cemented himself in that position going forward.
The Spaniard was reminiscent of Santi Cazorla in the middle of the park. His flicks, swivels, turns, dribbles and excellent passing were the highlights of the match for any player on the pitch. In his first Arsenal start, Ceballos provided 2 assists, completed 4 successful dribbles and maintained an impressive 90% pass accuracy.
