Result: Arsenal 0-1 Burnley
Date: 13 December 2020
Venue: Emirates Stadium
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's second-half goal handed Burnley their first-ever win over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday night.
The Gunners had just one enforced change from the loss to Tottenham Hotspur, as Mohamed Elneny took the place of the injured Thomas Partey in the line-up.
The visitors had a big chance to go ahead in the 14th minute after Jay Rodriguez threaded a teasing cross inside the box towards the unmarked Chris Wood, who mistimed his header as the ball came off his shoulder and missed wide.
The game was opening up after that and Alexandre Lacazette had a chance to break the deadlock for Arsenal in the 28th minute after latching onto a loose ball inside the box but his toe-poked shot was saved by goalkeeper Nick Pope.
Mikel Arteta's charges kept on putting Burnley under pressure in the closing phase of the first stanza but they could not find the penetration in the last third and the first stanza ended without goals.
Arsenal showed a sense of urgency coming from the break, but the game turned on its head when they were reduced to ten men just before the hour-mark after Granit Xhaka initially got a yellow card for a challenge on Dwight McNeil but the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) spotted the midfielder grabbing McNeil by the neck, which eventually resulted in the red card.
Things got worse for the Gunners, as Aubameyang handed Burnley the lead in the last quarter of an hour with an unfortunate own goal after flicking a corner at the near post past shot-stopper Bernd Leno.
Arteta's troops were desperate to at least salvage a point in the dying minutes, but the Clarets were resilient at the back as they held on for their first win at the Emirates Stadium, while handing the Gunners their fourth straight home loss in the league.
