ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Arsenal 3
Burnley 1
LONDON • It was difficult to ignore the return of Mesut Ozil.
Arsenal's supposed marquee player was back, given his first start since Nov 11 after a back problem and a high-profile omission for "tactical reasons" against Tottenham in the League Cup on Wednesday.
The forward responded in style when he set up two goals in the 3-1 Premier League home win over Burnley yesterday, even if he was peripheral for long spells.
"Very good response. He played like we needed today," Gunners manager Unai Emery said at his post-match conference.
18
Premier League games it took Arsenal to go into half-time with the lead. They last did so against Huddersfield on the final day of last season.
"His skills, his commitment was very good. He helped us. I said we needed Mesut Ozil."
Given the captain's armband by Emery, Ozil was frequently buffeted by a strong and physical Burnley team and largely unable to impose his passing rhythms.
But he popped up early with a glorious pass that set up the first of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's two goals and late on with an assist for Alex Iwobi.
It was a strangely disjointed game, even after Aubameyang put Arsenal in charge with his second at the beginning of the second half. The Gabon striker now has 12 goals in the Premier League and 14 in all competitions this season.
Despite trailing by two goals, Burnley, without an away win since September, made life difficult for Arsenal.
The game was niggly, with the always angry Ashley Barnes, who scored the away side's goal, central to much of it.
He had a tussle with Arsenal defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos, the pair tussling on the ground in the first half after they chased a loose ball into touch; Barnes was rather harshly booked.
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
YESTERDAY
Wolves 0 Liverpool 2YESTERDAY
Arsenal 3 Burnley 1
Bournemouth 2 Brighton 0
Chelsea 0 Leicester 1
Huddersfield 1Â Southampton 3
Man City 2Â Crystal Palace 3
Newcastle 0Â Fulham 0
West Ham 0Â Watford 2
Cardiff v Man United Late kick-offTODAY
Everton v Tottenham Singtel TV Ch102 & StarHub Ch227, 11.55pm
But the Burnley striker gets his edge from playing on the edge while his team's physicality, in general, was a problem for their hosts.
"They are an aggressive team, that is clear in their game plan," Emery added.
"They are more physical than us, that is normal. But we need to adapt... We won today not because we played well but because every player had a very big commitment.
"We knew Burnley are an organised team and were going to push us... I think we controlled the match like we wanted."
The game was tense at 2-1 when the board went up to show five minutes of stoppage time.
Enter Ozil. He drove into the area and caught a break when his pass was deflected into the path of Iwobi, who made no mistake.
Henry Winter, The Times of London's chief football writer, tweeted in praise: "That's what Mesut Ozil can do, tease a ball through tight spaces. Such a gifted footballer with vision and technique... the talent is undeniable."
Following a 22-match unbeaten run, Arsenal had lost last Sunday at Southampton and again to Spurs in midweek. From their perspective, this was more like it.
For Burnley manager Sean Dyche, whose team are struggling in the relegation zone, it was just a bad day at the office.
"It wasn't a 3-1 game, I think all would agree with that. We conceded soft goals," he said on the BBC's Match of the Day.
"When you come here, you do need decisions and so many went against us. We've got to turn good performances into good results."
THE GUARDIAN, REUTERS
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino says he is in "shock" after being given an "unfair" two-match touchline ban for angrily confronting referee Mike Dean after his side's 2-1 defeat at Burnley. The
Aaron Ramsey has agreed a five-year deal with Juventus worth £36m and will join the Italian champions on a free transfer at the end of the season. The midfielder has been discussing a move for weeks and will leave Arsenal after 10 years at the club.
Ramsey poised to sign five-year, €40m Juventus deal
PARIS (REUTERS) - Edinson Cavani is a major doubt for Paris St Germain's Champions League clash with Manchester United after picking up a thigh injury in his team's 1-0 Ligue 1 win over Girondins
PSG's Cavani doubtful for Manchester United game
Issuu is a digital publishing platform that makes it simple to publish magazines, catalogs, newspapers, books, and more online. Easily share your publications and get them in front of Issuu's
Manchester United legends thrash Bayern in 1999 charity rematch. 4 days ago. LONDON: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer tormented Bayern Munich once again as the Manchester United manager scored in his club's 1999 treble winners' reunion on Sunday. Twenty years after Solskjaer scored the last-gasp winner that helped Alex Ferguson's
Man Utd legends thrash Bayern in 1999 charity rematch
Eden Hazard could be a Real Madrid player as early as Monday with reports in Spain saying that the club will hold an unveiling for the Chelsea forward at the beginning of next week.
Real Madrid Kit 2019/20: First Images of Los Blancos' Classy
Lionel Messi collected a record fifth Golden Shoe award on Tuesday for finishing last season as the top goalscorer in Europe. The striker scored 34 goals in 68 games for Barcelona, putting him ahead of Liverpool's Mohamed Salah and Tottenham's Harry Kane.
Barca superstar claims record 5th Golden Shoe - Daily Nation
Football: Gareth Bale 'nowhere near' being Real's leader
Despite being regarded as possibly one of the contenders in the 2019 Singapore Premier League, Hougang United were handily beaten by Tampines Rovers 5-1. Things were especially difficult for the
LIVE: AIA Singapore Premier League - Tampines Rovers vs
Football: 'I made a mistake', says Pochettino, but he slams
Man City title hopes hit by shock defeat at Newcastle The Saigon Times Daily Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola reacts during the match at St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain January 29, 2019 - PHOTO: REUTERS
Man City title hopes hit by shock defeat at Newcastle - The
Klopp cool on Mo's dry spell, Football News & Top Stories
Messi backs Guardiola's City for success. Manchester City will continue to grow more under Pep Guardiola. Barca put City to the sword in a 4-0 Champions League rout on matchday three and
Manchester City are Premier League champions: How Pep
London - Cardiff claim they are shocked by a report that the pilot in the plane crash that killed Emiliano Sala was not qualified to fly at night. The Premier League club said they remain "deeply
Cardiff 'shocked' by Sala pilot report - thesundaily.my
Real Madrid coach Santi Solari hailed his team's ability to suffer and then hit back after Wednesday's 2-1 Champions League round-of-16 first-leg win at Ajax. Ajax overwhelmed Madrid at times and
Real Madrid Will '100%' Win a Major Title Next Season, Says
0 comments:
Post a Comment