Arsenal breezed past Burnley 5-0 in their Premier League match at Turf Moor to go second in the table.
A powerful early strike from Martin Odegaard set Mikel Arteta’s side on the road to victory before a penalty from Bukayo Saka doubled Arsenal’s lead before the break.
The England forward then fired a bullet of a right-foot shot past James Trafford to add a third with Leandro Trossard and Kai Havertz completing the rout.
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Arsenal have 55 points — two behind leaders Liverpool, who beat Brentford 4-1 earlier in the day — with Manchester City, who face Chelsea at 5.30pm (UK time), on 52, with two games in hand.
Here, Jordan Campbell runs through the game’s key talking points.
Sharpshooter Saka
It is often said Arsenal are a team without a superstar but Bukayo Saka’s numbers may be changing that perception.
His brace against Burnley followed up his double against West Ham last week, which made it the first time he has scored in four consecutive games in the Premier League. He has racked up seven goals in his last six matches.
Since the start of last season, he has 44 Premier League goal involvements, level with Ollie Watkins and only beaten by Mohamed Salah (55) and Erling Halaand (65).
Penalties have contributed six of that total but his record since missing from the spot in the Euro 2020 final for England is a statement in itself. Converting the penalty to make it 2-0 against Burnley gives him a record of eight from nine since then.
The ruthlessness of his finish just after half-time, quickly shifting the ball onto his right foot and blasting into the roof of the net, further reinforced the idea he is reaching new levels of consistency in the penalty area.
He is on course to maintain his record of improving on his goals and assists total every single season, with 15 goals and 13 assists in all competitions.
In his first 210 games for Arsenal, Saka scored a goal more than Cristiano Ronaldo did for Manchester United in the same timeframe.
A combination of 51 goals and 49 assists gave him a century of goal involvements and he is looking good to get to his next century at an even quicker rate.
New Year, new Arsenal?
Arsenal made it five consecutive league victories at the start of a calendar year for the first time in their history, and the emphatic nature of this streak suggests they have found a new gear as a team.
They could not afford to allow the run of one win in seven over the festive period to bleed into this year.
Eleven goals in the last week and 21 goals in their last five Premier League matches have done wonders to make those creativity struggles a distant memory.
In truth, they could have added even more at Turf Moor.
The game was over as a contest when Arsenal made it 2-0 in the 41st minute but the floodgates opened in the second half.
Arsenal scored within two minutes of the restart and by the hour mark, they had reduced Burnley to a nervous wreck at the back.
They were winning the ball and countering at pace with the home side offered little reprieve. It was relentless and in the minutes leading up to Trossard’s goal — they had three clear-cut chances in as many minutes.
With Liverpool winning 4-1 and Manchester City notching 11 wins on the bounce in all competitions, the pressure has been on Arsenal to step up the pace in the second half of the season.
They have now scored more goals than City and are joint-top with Liverpool when it comes to goal difference.
Bench breather for key players
Mikel Arteta spoke this week about a lack of options meaning he has had to use the same cohort of players for the bulk of games recently.
Against Burnley, Jorginho, Emile Smith Rowe, Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson all got a good run out. Even forgotten man Cedric Soares came on for his second taste of league action this season.
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It turned out to be an extended taste due to 10 minutes of stoppage time being added when Burnley looked keen to throw in the towel.
Having more players available made it easier for Arteta to rotate early but so too was the simplicity of the match.
𝐅𝐓: 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝟎-𝟓 𝐀𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐥
That's five Premier League wins in a row for the Gunners, who go back to within two points of leaders Liverpool.
They've already scored 5+ goals in three Premier League games in 2024, one more than in the entirety of 2023. pic.twitter.com/HxGlC8CeSL
— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) February 17, 2024
Ben White, Trossard and Saka were off by the 70th minute, and Declan Rice joined them in the 79th minute.
It will help the confidence of squad players and also help sharpen them up for when they are inevitably needed in more difficult fixtures during the run-in.
In the short term, it was a luxury that will leave a little more in the tank before Wednesday’s away trip against Porto in the first leg of the Champions League last-16 match.
Against PSV Eindhoven in December’s group-stage dead rubber, Arteta did not take the opportunity to play any younger players and even brought on several key figures for the final half an hour.
There was no such unnecessary energy expended here and Arsenal look like they have plenty in the tank, fighting on only two fronts compared to their title rivals fighting on three and four.
What did Arteta say?
“Really happy with the performance, with the result and the individual and collective contribution each player as well. That was very, very good. And the fact that the team looked like it wanted more. It wasn’t satisfied. They wanted to score more, they didn’t want to concede a goal. I’m really pleased to hit that consistency.
“We want to dominate games and play in the opponents half as much as possible. I think the threat, the purpose, the activity and the connections of the players are flowing and they really want it. We have momentum now and we have to maintain it. Now we leave the Premier League, we go to Porto which will be a really tough environment, so just prepare to play well again and be ourselves.”
What next for Arsenal?
Wednesday, February 21: Porto (A), Champions League, 8pm GMT, 3pm ET
For the first time in seven years, Arsenal play a Champions League knockout game — let’s just hope that it goes better than the last one, when Arsene Wenger’s side lost 5-1 at home to Bayern Munich.
Recommended reading
- Dissecting two outstanding Arsenal goals
- Champions League last-16 predictions
- How Rice turned boos into a standing ovation
(Top photo: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images))