ALEXIS SANCHEZ CONVERTED a 92nd-minute penalty to give Arsenal a 1-0 win and a third successive stoppage-time victory over Burnley at Turf Moor on Sunday.
The Gunners won both matches last season by virtue of last-gasp goals โ a Sanchez spot-kick also proving decisive at Emirates Stadium in January โ and the Chile international repeated the feat after James Tarkowski was adjudged to have pushed Aaron Ramsey.
Having won just one of their previous six Premier League away trips, Arsenal appeared set to drop more points on the road after an uninspiring performance in attack.
Arsene Wengerโs side clearly missed the influence of Mesut Ozil, sidelined by illness, as they struggled to unlock a Burnley outfit which had previously conceded only twice in six home league matches this term.
But the last-gasp spot-kick proved all the visitors needed to leapfrog rivals Tottenham into fourth, with Sean Dycheโs side missing their own opportunity to do exactly that.
Instead, Dycheโs men were left to contend with yet another heartbreaking defeat to a team against which they have now lost 1-0 in each of the past three Turf Moor meetings.
The42 has just published its first book, Behind The Lines, a collection of some of the yearโs best sports stories. Pick up your copy in Easonโs, or order it here today (โฌ10):
Never a penalty. Same old arsenal.
@Robert Clifford: hahahaha bitter
@Robert Clifford: Clear penalty! 1 nil to the Arsenal as they say
@Robert Clifford: tent man Arsene said it was a penalty so it must be. He must be happy to have his vision back.
@Graham: clear push in the back
@Jordo: shoving goes on all the time. To suddenly call a penalty at that time is wrong. Burnley have every right reason to feel robbed.
@Graham: Ramsey was going to jump for the ball
@Jordo: and took a nudge, much like every challenge in the boxโฆ. ref letโs this stuff go the whole game, till burnley have no chance to respond.
he shoves him in the back, no doubt about the penalty being the right call
@Trev: shove? Is it a non contact sport or are you just a little sensitive yourself? Watch yourself in those christmas crowds youโll get โshovedโ all over the place.
@Brian: even if its only a โpushโ in the back not a โshoveโ its still a pen? Struggling to understand how christmas crowds comes into it but ok
@Brian: Sensitive or not, getting shoved in the back is a foul, so penalty. Thanks for your concern for me though, but I just do my Christmas shopping online
Playing like Champions
@Aidan O: of north London?
@Aidan O: injury time penalty to win is really the stuff of champions
Lucky shits Jordo
@Ollie Watson: I was at it. Froze my balls off the whole day. Thank fu**.
@Jordo: do ya have to be a member to go to away games love to go with the reds as atmospheres usually better away?
@Ollie Watson: didnโt mean question mark there
@Jordo: I was at the 1966 WC final too, was 8 years from being born, but definitely over the line.
@Ollie Watson: yeah you do, away games are brilliant. Cheap enough for tickets too
@Jordo: yeah agree with the atmosphere not even a dig but Emirates has shittest atmosphere in league
@Ollie Watson: seriously?
@Graham: what you mean ?
@Jordo: A lot at stake now next weekend Jordo. Itโs getting tight for top 4. (2nd-4th that is).
@Ollie Watson: believing him.
@Nollaig Elliot: only city showing consistency. The rest look like they will be amazing or awfulโฆ..
@Ollie Watson: nope disagree, atmosphere in the emirates can be very good. Unbelievable atmosphere in turf moor for a small ground
@Graham: Theyโll probably win it by a record points margin man. Who looks like beating them. If you take into consideration the difference in quality between them and say, the 5 teams behind them. Frightening.
@Jordo: like you said earlier, away fansโฆ more craic.
@Nollaig Elliot: man City will have itโs bad spell, just do not see anyone capitalizing.
@Jordo: if your not being sarcastic thereโs something wrong with you all top six have shit atmosphere now but we have the best probably in the big games under the KOP
@Ollie Watson: have you been to the emirates
@Jordo: no but seen enough games on tv to realise itโs all plastic apart from North Bank
@Ollie Watson: Anfield is no better than any of the other grounds, theyโll belt out Never Walk Alone at the start then silent for the rest
@Trev: now it is used to be the best but out of top 6 it has best atmosphere especially during big games
@Ollie Watson: isnโt all plastic apart from the north bank