Premier League: Burnley vs Arsenal Player Ratings as Odegaard strike wins it for the Gunners
A stunning free-kick from Martin Odegaard allowed Arsenal to book their second win on the trot to climb all the way to twelfth in the Premier League. The Gunners defeated Burnley 1-0 away from home.
Let us have a brief look at how each of the two teams performed:
Burnley:
Nick Pope (6/10): Pope was struggling to keep the shape of his defence intact and had exposed himself on too many occasions against Arsenal.
Charlie Taylor (6/10): Taylor made some key interceptions but failed to contain the Arsenal attack. He was taken on a ride by the likes of Odegaard and was not efficient enough in front of the goal.
Ben Mee (6/10): Mee was in central defence and was spotted to be outfoxed on many occasions by Arsenal.
James Tarkowski (7/10): Tarkowski’s towering presence at the back made it difficult for Arsenal to win headers from set-pieces inside the Burnley box.
Matthew Lowton (6/10): Lowton was defensively sublime but struggled to help his side in an attacking role.
Dwight McNeil (7/10): McNeil made some good crosses from the left to keep the Arsenal defence busy.
Josh Brownhill (7/10): Brownhill was a midfield lynchpin and found some key openings for his side.
Ashley Westwood (7/10): Westwood was a key figure in the midfield for Burnley and created scoring chances.
Johann Gudmundsson (6/10): Gudmundsson did not contribute as much as he would have liked to in Burnley’s attacking moves up the pitch.
Chris Wood (6/10): Wood was isolated up front and failed to finish the chances he got. He had to track back and defend for his team.
Ashley Barnes (6/10): Much like Wood, Barnes was not effective upfront. Barnes had chances to go for goal and find the back of the net but missed some sheer sitters from close range.
Substitutes:
Maxwell Cornet (6/10): Cornet replaced Gudmundsson at the back and was decent on the right side.
Jay Rodriguez (N/A):
Matej Vydra (6/10): Vydra failed to do anything different after coming on and was subpar with his finishing in front of goal.
Arsenal
Aaron Ramsdale (6/10): Ramsdale made some key saves for his side but was nervy on occasions and had to be rescued by his defenders.
Takehiro Tomiyasu (7/10): Tomiyasu had a fantastic 90 minutes, contributing to the attack and helping Arsenal defend at the wings.
Ben White (7/10): Ben White was a rock at the back and did not allow Burnley to dominate. White made some defensive headers from set-pieces and never allowed Burnley to be the dominant side in attack.
Gabriel Magalhães (7/10): Magalhaes partnered with White at the back and was a key figure in defence for Arsenal.
Kieran Tierney (6/10): Tierney had an off-day at the left-wing and was not much effective going into attack.
Thomas Partey (7/10): Partey dictated the defensive midfield for Arsenal and never allowed Burnley to beat the middle lines on the pitch.
Nicolas Pepe (6/10): Pepe had a disappointing game and was kept in check at the right side. Pepe did get some crosses in from the right but the deliveries were often wide and allowed Burnley the option to hit back Arsenal on counter.
Emile Smith Rowe (6/10): Smith Rowe failed to contribute much with his passes and was disappointing in front of the goal.
Martin Odegaard (8/10): Odegaard scored a stunning goal for Arsenal and was a livewire upfront for the rest of the match after his free-kick from outside the box. His attempt from the set-piece put Arsenal ahead and was the only goal of the game.
Bukayo Saka (6/10): Saka did not play much of a part in the game and was mostly overpowered by the Burnley defence.
Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang (6/10): Aubameyang was stranded upfront and did not contribute much to Arsenal’s win.
Substitutes:
Nuno Tavares (NA):
Albert Lokonga (6/10): Lokonga had a decent game and was spotted to be more attack-minded than Smith Rowe.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles (NA):
Aditi Srinivas
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