Wenger continues long unbeaten streak as Arsenal beat Burnley
Sunday, 06 January 08, 11:18 AM · Comments(0)
A fact that many people are unaware of, but which is still quite outstanding, is that Arsene Wenger has never lost to lower-league opposition in his 11+ years as Arsenal manager. His 616 games as an Arsenal manager have included 98 cup ties, but none of them have ever been lost to lower league opposition, and that continued to be the case today as Burnley were edged out by a patchy Arsenal side.
It was a mix of youth and experience - Sagna was restored to right-back, Toure and Eboue played 90 minutes and gave whole-hearted "last" performances before leaving for the African Cup of Nations, and Gilberto and Lehmann got some first team action. There were no real surprises in the line-up, with Traore coming in for the rested Clichy, and Diaby and Denilson completing the midfield. Up front it was Eduardo and Bendtner, and the side was altogether too strong for Burnley.
Eduardo scored the first goal after being put through by a nicely weighted Toure long pass, which he controlled and then carefully poked past the onrushing Gabor Kiraly. The Crozilian then played a simple slide rule pass into Bendtner's run, and the Dane rounded Kiraly before slotting home in one cool movement.
Burnley didn't offer too much, but they had the first chance of the match, with Kyle Lafferty thumping a header against the bar. Lafferty was then sent off for a clumsy lunge at Gilberto. It wasn't two-footed, but the foot was high off the ground and it could have done some serious damage if Gilberto's leg had been planted.
Overall, Owen Coyle can be proud of the effort his boys put in, but they will need much more than fighting spirit to improve things in the league.
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