The Game

Some of you will look back at Nicklas Bendtner’s missed chances and smile after we registered a second 3-1 win after the Stoke one, but to be suffering the way we did with five minutes to go was not nice to see. To find myself asking players to keep it near the corner flag or for Almunia to keep it in the box when playing 19th in the table Burnley, well, it’s sad stuff.

But, it happens when you have 10 clear goal opportunities and only score three times. Luckily, we get all three points and go level on points with Chelsea. To be fair on Nicklas, I appreciated and was impressed with his fighting spirit and ball shielding but for someone who wants to be “Arsenal’s number one striker”, his words not mine, you expect him to bury those.

Let’s just say we took what we wanted from this game, the three points, the pressure back on Chelsea and seeing Abou Diaby and Andrey Arshavin back after a well-deserved rest. We will be provide news on Cesc Fabregas’ injury – which is hopefully nothing serious – as soon as we get them.

Match Video Highlights

Match video highlights are available in the Videos section of our website. If not there yet, rest assured they will be up in a matter of hours.

Player Ratings

Almunia: 6 – Again not fully convinced with how he dealt with some high balls, especially the last one where he clashed with Abou in his attempt to catch the ball.

Silvestre: 6 – Had a shocking start, gifting Burnley the ball with his first three touches. Recovered, but still slow to recover when caught on the wrong foot.

Vermaelen: 7 – Cool, calm and collected. With both William Gallas and Sol Campbell ruled out, Thomas is always a rock solid presence at the back.

Clichy: 6,5 – Very good game from Gael. Very quick to anticipate his marker and cleared the ball in old-style fashion when required.

Eboue: 7 – Another very good game from Emmanuel, who could easily be seen as an added midfielder in these types of games.

Denilson: 6 – A better second half from the Brasilian who however still fails to make his physical presence felt in midfield.

Fabregas: 7 – Apparently, Cesc didn’t train on Friday because of a knee injury, reason why he was substituted today. We’ll know more tomorrow, but in the meantime, he scored that first, vital goal.

Nasri: 9 – Phenomenal. No other words to describe such a magnificent performance. His assist to Cesc was delicious.

Rosicky: 6,5 – His impact on the game was not as clear as Samir’s but I still believe Tomas had a very good game, though he will probably be the one to go on the bench now that Andrey is back.

Walcott: 9 – If there was someone else in the box, Theo would have scored and had four assists under his name. Unfortunately, he only has the goal to show for but if he can replicate this performance over and over again, he will prove many – including myself – wrong.

Bendtner: 4 – Well, as I said in the introduction, I loved his fighting spirit and the way he shielded the ball for his team-mates, but missing four clear goal opportunities is no joke. I would have understood had he missed all of them except the easy header, but he missed that one as well.

(Subs)
Diaby: 7 – Brilliant. Watching him back means that on Tuesday, Alex Song and himself will surely start in midfield and that will not be a nice vision for the Porto players.

Eduardo: No Vote – So, so slow. Dudu is clearly still a long way off from being the fast, clinical striker we once knew, but hopefully he’ll get there.

Arshavin: 6 – Started slowly after coming in but still managed to score the third goal which completely killed off Burnley’s hopes.