SANCHEZ GIVES US BELIEF...
Wenger salutes Arsenal’s hero
AGAIN, it was down to Alexis Sanchez to save Arsenal.
It is a story that is becoming all too familiar at the moment — when Arsenal are in a spot of bother, up pops Sanchez — but £30million buys you a talented footballer who is the embodiment of a match-winner.
The 25-year-old Chile star scored two more goals yesterday, taking his season’s tally to 10, in a game that for so long looked like it could end uncomfortably for Arsene Wenger.
‘Alexis gives us the belief that the goal will come. He is a winner,’ said the Arsenal manager.
‘The header he scored wasn’t about his technical talent, it was a result of his determination and desire.
‘In recent games we haven’t been patient but we showed it today and that was one of the most pleasing things.’
Burnley manager Sean Dyche should be proud of his side — they put up one hell of a fight at the Emirates Stadium.
His team, though, remain bottom of the Premier League without a win from their opening 10 games.
‘Apart from giving away two soft goals we couldn’t complain about the manner of the performance, they delivered tactically for 70 minutes,’ said Dyche.
‘It’s important we learn from games like this, but we have to learn quickly. We’ve spent £6 million and it’s very difficult to challenge teams like Arsenal — but not impossible.’ It took the Gunners some time to get going before Danny Welbeck and Santi Cazorla combined for the latter to send a shot at goalkeeper Tom Heaton in the 10th minute.
Welbeck thought he had opened the scoring in the 14th minute as he danced through the Burnley defence before firing a 12-yard shot that had Heaton beaten. But Kieran Trippier unwittingly saved a certain goal as the Arsenal striker’s effort hit him, accidentally, on the arm.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was proving a threat for the Gunners down the right and the England international almost set up Mathieu Flamini in the 25th minute — but the Frenchman smashed a half-volley narrowly wide.
This was not what Arsenal were expecting. Wenger could not conceal his anxiety as he paced back and forth, from his seat to the technical area, as his side struggled to find a breakthrough.
Had Scott Arfield shot instead of passing to Danny Ings in the 33rd minute, then the afternoon could have got considerably worse for the Frenchman.
Sanchez forced Heaton into a good save moments later with a right-foot shot from 20 yards before Burnley skipper Jason Shackell blocked Cazorla’s follow-up.
The Chilean, from a similar position, went close again 10 minutes before half-time as he saw his curling effort fly inches wide of Heaton’s far post.
And he was denied again in the 40th minute when Flamini capitalised on some poor Burnley defending to put Sanchez clean through, but yet again Heaton was on hand to keep his side on level-terms.
Anxiety levels were rising at the Emirates and they would have reached boiling point had George Boyd taken full advantage of some Arsenal hesitancy two minutes before the break.
Burnley were more than holding their own as the half-time whistle blew and that continued after the break as the Gunners continued to toil.
Wenger sent on Aaron Ramsey in place of Mikel Arteta in the 63rd minute in attempt to galvanise his team. And just how Arsenal failed to take the lead three minutes later will remain a mystery. Calum Chambers, latching onto Sanchez’s pass, fed Cazorla who merely had to finish from five yards — but he somehow conspired to aim his effort at Michael Duff’s outstretched foot.
The home supporters could not believe it. Surely, they were not about to draw at home to Burnley? But Sanchez answered their prayers by digging the team out of trouble in the 70th minute.
Quite how the striker, at 5ft 7ins, rose above Trippier, who is 5ft 10ins, and Duff (6ft 1ins) to head home Chambers’ cross will baffle Dyche.
Wenger, though, was less surprised as he watched a player he branded a ‘street fighter’ 24 hours earlier break the deadlock.
Chambers ensured a comfortable finale, scoring a second two minutes later by prodding home from close range after Heaton produced another save to deny Welbeck from Cazorla’s corner.
Finally, Wenger could relax; he sent on Theo Walcott for his first appearance in nine months following a serious knee injury, as well as Lukas Podolski.
The duo were both denied in the dying stages thanks to more heroics from Heaton, while Podolski also crashed a powerful volley on to the bar.
The day belonged to Sanchez, though, and he scored his second goal in added time, allowing the Gunners to finally stroll home.