This riveting spectacle ended in Burnley heartbreak when James Tarkowski came together with Aaron Ramsey in the area and Lee Mason awarded a penalty. Alexis Sánchez slid the ball home, to Nick Pope’s right. Seconds later Mason blew for time and boos filled the air.
This was because Ramsey made the most of the contact from Tarkowski, though as soon as hands go on a player in the box the official has a decision to make.
Afterwards a disappointed Sean Dyche touched on this. “It was highly unlikely it wasn’t going to get given, you can draw your conclusions from that,” the Burnley manager said. “It probably is a penalty but it was never not going to be given, I can assure you. You lay your hands on someone, he goes down, they are tough calls; you have to be 100%, which I assume the referee is.
“It’s a tough job for referees, it’s not going to change. There were some frustrations with some of the moments – I’ve not spoken to him. Ramsey, that was a smash in the back compared to what most people go down with.”
This was the third consecutive time Burnley have lost to Arsenal in controversial circumstances. In last season’s corresponding fixture Laurent Koscielny’s handball was missed in a finish that proved to be the winner. Burnley claimed the defender was also offside. In the reverse game at the Emirates, Sánchez claimed the points with a disputed 98th-minute spot-kick.
Dyche may have had all this in mind when talking about Sunday’s penalty decision. “We’ve had a lot not given,” he said. “I don’t know why. The bigger clubs seem to get the decisions; I’m not sure it’s that fact [this afternoon]. You have to be clear only because it’s unlikely he’s ever going to get there [to the ball], so when is a foul a foul?”
Arsène Wenger had a different view, having talked to Ramsey. “When you speak to him, he didn’t throw himself on the ground,” Arsenal’s manager said. “He wanted to go back and flick the ball, he was pushed in the back, had a problem in the neck from the push – it was a very strong push.”
Given Burnley’s impressive first-half display Wenger could not have complained if Arsenal had been beaten. Arsenal, though, did display steely character to come back into the contest after the interval.
After Arsenal arrived at Turf Moor only 52 minutes before kick-off, Wenger sent out a different XI to the losing one at Cologne on Thursday. The chief exclusion was Mesut Özil, though this was because of illness. “How bad is he, will he be available for Wednesday [the match against Huddersfield Town]?” Wenger said. “We’ll have to see what it is.”
Dyche made no changes from the 2-0 win against Swansea City and could be pleased with the scintillating opening 45 minutes his team produced. First, Johann Berg Gudmundsson forced Ramsey to concede a free-kick. When Robbie Brady’s delivery to Petr Cech’s left-post area was repelled, moments later the Icelander intervened again. This time some Gudmundsson trickery bought a yard and he crossed towards the lurking Ashley Barnes. Arsenal once more cleared but it seemed obvious Dyche had instructed his men to get at the visitors via the long ball.
In a flash, though, Burnley came close to going behind. The previously muted Alexandre Lacazette broke and flipped the ball in to Ramsey, who should have beaten Pope. This was now a spectacle to make the senses tingle. What impressed about Dyche’s men was the speed of pass and movement. Yet Arsenal – and Sánchez, in particular – pinned Burnley back when the second period started. After the Chilean put in Sead Kolasinac deep in Burnley’s area it was their turn to scramble clear.
It pointed to how Arsenal were edging the half but had to stay alert. Following the introduction of Jack Wilshere for Alex Iwobi on 66 minutes, Brady crashed a shot back off Koscielny and the sense was that the game could go either way.
Arsenal triumphed and they re-enter the top four, a point above Tottenham Hotspur. Wenger said: “For us after the win against Tottenham [last week] it was important to go away and win it and that’s what we did – for the benefit of the team it’s very important. They [Burnley] defended very well, they were well organised, clever, intelligent and direct. When you play them you understand why they have 22 points.”
Dyche said: “There’s a lot of me inside that’s raging a lot. I’ve told them [his players] that we continue to develop, we continue to move forward.
“I’ve also told them this is the reality. Football’s a harsh game and sometimes it hurts you.”
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