ARSENAL continued to recover from their terrible start to the Premier League season as they beat Burnley 1-0 at Turf Moor.
Martin Odegaard’s first half free-kick was enough to hand the Gunners all three points as they followed up their win over Norwich with another victory.
Mikel Arteta’s side are gradually beginning to improve after they opened the campaign with three successive defeats.
Here is how SunSport rated the Arsenal players performances this afternoon.
Aaron Ramsdale – 6/10
A couple of risky moments with the ball at his feet in the first half. Arsenal’s new No1 was far busier after the break.
Got the rub of the green when VAR showed that he had got a touch on the ball ahead of sub Matej Vydra when Anthony Taylor gave the home side a penalty.
Takehiro Tomiyasu – 6
A real welcome to England on his first Premier League away trip. Yet the Japanese defender did OK.
He’ll probably be surprised at how little winger Dwight McNeil tried to run at him, but it was a different matter when the Clarets’ new French signing Maxwel Cornet came on.
Ben White – 5
The defender was a bit flustered when Wood got close and didn’t look too happy with the big Kiwi’s physical power.
His heart would have been in his mouth waiting to see if the Burnley penalty was overturned after his initial short back pass.
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Gabriel – 7
The Brazilian threw his body on the line a few times to protect the side’s lead, most notably when Ashley Barnes looked ready to pull the trigger.
Exactly the sort of commitment Gooners want to see from their team.
Kieran Tierney – 6
Marauding forward from left-back, the Scot was one of the Gunners’ main attacking outlets.
However, he stopped charging forward in the second half as Arsenal tried to hold their advantage.
Thomas Partey – 7
In for his first start of the campaign and the man from Ghana provided the energy and drive the midfield has been badly missing.
His driving run at the Burnley box won the free-kick for Odegaard’s crucial goal.
Nicolas Pepe – 5
Pepe nearly had a chance to score in the first few minutes but from there, another day of frustration from the Ivorian.
Had a number of opportunities on the counter attack to make something happen, only for a bad pass saw them come to nothing.
Emile Smith Rowe – 6
Back in the team, the 21-year-old had licence to get forward from the midfield three.
On two occasions that he got into good positions in the box, he couldn’t find the finish. Afternoon ended early after he got a knock.
Martin Odegaard – 8
Beautiful free-kick with his left-foot and the switch to 4-3-3 really benefitted the Norwegian.
That gave him the space to get on the ball and pick passes with Kieran Tierney a regular option. Probably Arsenal’s best player on the day.
Bukayo Saka – 5
In front of the watching England manager Gareth Southgate, he would have been keen to impress.
Sadly, the winger chose a bad time to have a really poor afternoon as he struggled to get involved in anything of note going forward.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 5
The Arsenal captain cut a frustrated figure at times due to a lack of good service. He even resorted to a couple of optimistic shots when the ball did get to him.
If the service does not get better, it could be a long season of feeding off scraps.
Subs
Albert Sambi Lokonga (for Smith Rowe, 61) – 6
Sent on when Smith Rowe picked up a knock and had to compete as Burnley were pushing for an equaliser.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles (for Partey, 75) – 4
A like-for-like replacement for Partey after the Ghanaian had run out of gas.
Nuno Tavares (for Tierney, 78) – 4
Portuguese youngster sent on in place of the injured Tierney to see out the victory.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
