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Arsenal 3-1 Burnley
Match Reports, 17:16, March 6, 2010 ,
Despite Nicklas Bendter's poor finishing Arsenal secured a vital three points with Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott among the scorers.
Arsenal started the game brightly and could have been out of Burnley's reach within the first five minutes. Tyrone Mears was in the right place at the right time in Burnley's defence to nick the ball away from Tomas Rosicky, with the inspirational Fabregas threatening after typically patient build-up play from the home side. Minutes later, Bendtner had a decent chance to open the scoring despite a hint of offside but Burnley stood firm to clear the ball behind for a corner, before Brian Jensen was forced into action to prevent Fabregas from taking a shot after a one-two with Emmanuel Eboue.
This was very much the dominant pattern of the opening exchanges, with Arsenal piling on the pressure in and around the box but failing to make a real breakthrough. Fabregas was unlucky to see his stinging shot just before the 15 minute mark flash across the face of goal but the midfielder was handed an adequate consolation after 34 minutes, when he applied the finishing touch to a stunning Arsenal goal.
Fabregas played the ball to Samir Nasri before sprinting into a good position in the box and latching on to the end of an inch-perfect pass, leaving Jensen helpless with a neat finish. Burnley could have conceded another goal seconds later, but Bendtner was guilty of wasting a glorious chance, flashing a shot wide of the post.
Despite Arsenal wanting to put the unfortunate events of last weekend firmly behind them, memories of Aaron Ramsey's injury seemed to be haunting Walcott as he appeared to overreact to a challenge from Danny Fox. Walcott was lucky to escape a booking for his reaction and Arsenal were unable to increase their lead before the half time whistle, with Fabregas forced to leave the pitch with a hamstring injury shortly before the break.
The second half opened with a handful of glorious chances for Bendtner to further Arsenal's lead but he failed to take advantage of any of them, heading wide from 5 yards out before blasting the ball over the bar from the same distance. Arsenal were made to regret these missed chances just minutes later, as David Nugent lobbed Manuel Almunia after beating Thomas Vermaelen to the ball. However, Burnley didn't remain on level terms for long, with Walcott bursting into life in the box, cutting inside before sending a left-footed shot past Jensen into the corner of the goal.
Bendtner and Andrey Arshavin, on for Rosicky, were both guilty of missing clear-cut chances from close range as the half progressed, and Eduardo was similarly wasteful when he replaced Bendtner with around 15 minutes remaining. Burnley could have scored themselves minutes from the final whistle after Almunia made a mess of an attempt to claim the ball from a corner but it was left to Arshavin to have the final say in a game which should have seen a flurry of Arsenal goals, as he smashed a low shot into the corner of the goal.