Burnley 0-5 Arsenal: Clarets show lack of intent, fight and purpose in pitiful home thrashing

A Bukayo Saka double and further goals from Martin Odegaard, Leandro Trossard and Kai Havertz condemned Vincent Kompany’s men to another painful defeat, their 18th of a miserable campaign.

While losing to Arsenal won’t be a surprise to many, it was the manner of it which will come most painfully to the Clarets fanbase.

As soon as Mikel Arteta’s men opened the scoring after just four minutes, it was a depressingly one-sided contest. The Clarets showed no purpose, no intent and were wide open defensively. They were also guilty of giving the ball away again and again in poor areas of the pitch.

Burnley, who are now entering last chance saloon territory, head to Crystal Palace next week knowing nothing other than a victory will keep alive their faint, faint survival hopes. But in truth relegation is already an inevitability.

Kompany, who was banned from the touchline, opted to keep faith with the side that performed encouragingly in defeat to another title challenger in Liverpool last week.

On a positive note, Charlie Taylor returned to the bench after recovering from the shoulder problem he suffered during the FA Cup game against Tottenham last month.

Jordan Beyer was missing for the sixth game running, while Luca Koleosho, Nathan Redmond and Lyle Foster are all long-term absentees.

Mike Tresor was left out of Burnley’s squad once again.

As for Arsenal, they also named an unchanged side having thrashed West Ham 6-0 in their last outing.

It took just four minutes for the Gunners to bag yet again, with Martin Odegaard giving the visitors an early lead.

Typically, Burnley had actually started the game well, setting off on the front foot and showing good intensity in their closing down.

But Arsenal opened the scoring in ruthless fashion, crossing the halfway line for the first time through Declan Rice - who fed Gabriel Martinelli down the left. The winger’s pullback reached Odegaard who stuck the ball away with aplomb from the edge of the Burnley box.

As expected, an inevitable spell of Arsenal pressure followed, with Rice and Bukayo Saka both denied by important defensive blocks.

It took until midway through the first half for Burnley to threaten the Arsenal goal, as Wilson Odobert saw his powerful cross parried away from danger by David Raya after he had skipped past a half-hearted challenge from Saka down the left flank.

At the other end, Sander Berge made a crucial last-ditch block to deny Arsenal a second, with Kai Havertz waiting to tap home behind him.

Leandro Trossard then squandered a golden chance to double his side’s lead when he air kicked his attempted shot 10 yards from goal.

Had Burnley remained just a goal behind at the interval, they might have stood a chance, albeit a slim one.

But those chances evaporated when the Clarets conceded a penalty four minutes before the break when Lorenz Assignon brought down Trossard.

James Trafford dived the right way from Saka’s spot kick but he wasn’t able to make the required contact to stop it finding the bottom corner.

The game was put to bed as a contest within two minutes of the restart, as Saka lashed home his second of the afternoon.

Hannes Delcroix failed to close him down with any sort of purpose, allowing Saka the time and space to beat Trafford high at his near post.

Play was stopped for around five minutes midway through the half when Aaron Ramsey was grounded by a tangle of legs.

It was clearly a serious situation though, as oxygen was administered to the midfielder while physios from both clubs attended to him.

Ramsey was eventually able to sit up as he was stretchered off to be replaced by Jay Rodriguez, who made his first appearance of 2024. Charlie Taylor also made his return in place of Maxime Esteve, a change which saw Delcroix move into a central position.

Things didn’t improve though, in fact they got much, much worse, with Burnley’s defending bordering on calamitous.

Burnley were wide open at the back, presenting two big chances for Trossard to add a fourth - but on both occasions he fired wide.

He didn’t make the same mistake on the third occasion though, putting the bed to good with a confident finish into the bottom corner of the Burnley net. Unsurprisingly, the fourth goal sparked a max exodus from the home ends.

The ground was virtually half empty when Arsenal ran in a fifth through Havertz, which was conceded in almost comical fashion.

The German was left in acres of space down the left but he still managed to nutmeg Delcroix before firing past Trafford.

Fofana, one of very few to come away with any sort of credit, almost added a late consolation when he was denied by David Raya at the near post.

The officials clearly wanted Burnley to suffer some more though, adding on TEN minutes of stoppage time as a result of Ramsey’s lengthy stoppage.

But thankfully the pain ended there, with Arsenal happy to settle for five.

TEAMS

Burnley: Trafford, Assignon, O'Shea, Esteve (Taylor), Delcroix (Vitinho), Brownhill, Berge, Ramsey (Rodriguez), Odobert (Bruun Larsen), Amdouni (Gudmundsson), Fofana

Subs not used: Muric, Cullen, Cork, Benson

Arsenal: Raya, White (Soares), Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior, Rice (Jorginho), Havertz (Smith Rowe), Odegaard, Saka (Nelson), Martinelli, Trossard (Nketiah)

Subs not used: Ramsdale, Elneny, Bandeira, Lannin-Sweet

Referee: Jarred Gillett