Martin Odegaard's (right) celebrations were muted after Arsenal took the lead
Martin Odegaard covered his ears instead of celebrating his first goal at Turf Moor. It was a harsh reaction, but it clearly shows where the five-game run has taken Arsenal's title race.
It was the Arsenal captain who was criticized for borrowing a camera from a club photographer. enjoying the victory over Liverpool earlier this month when Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher advised him to «just go down the tunnel».
Since then there have been 11 unanswered goals against West Ham and now Burnley. Perhaps Odegaard was provoked by talk of excessive celebrations. The response was decisive and ruthless — after five shots on target the score was 5:0.
“He doesn't need to send a message to anyone. If he wants to do something, he needs to do it and deal with the consequences. Some people will like it, some won't, but we really like it,” manager Mikel Arteta said.
Much like Odegaard's celebration, Arsenal were on a busy run with five wins in a row. Arteta's side have been ruthless, making it the best start to a calendar year in their history. Never before have they won five league games in a row. Their 21 goals in those games saw their goal difference skyrocket, which in itself could be worth a point. After Odegaard's opening goal, Bukaiya Saka scored twice, while Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard were also on the scoresheet.
“The thing is we wanted more but we weren’t satisfied,” Arteta said. “We wanted to score more and not concede, so I’m very happy that we were able to achieve such consistency. We want to dominate the game and play in the opponent's half as much as possible. The threat, purpose and activity and connection of the players is flowing and they really want it. We have momentum and we need to keep it going.”
Kai Havertz celebrates Arsenal's fifth goal Photo: Getty Images/Mark Atkins
The question now is whether any team has had a better five-game stretch this season. During this time, they took 96 shots on goal with an xG of 14.01 and conceded a total of just 1.71 xG. The statistics speak for themselves.
I hope we can do it [win the title] because we are there, but it's about consistency and you see the standards of the other teams. We want it, that's for sure,» Arteta said.
Arsenal took their foot off the pedal for 25 minutes last weekend after scoring six goals against West Ham, but it took them a while to score again. Another team in burgundy, another game in which they looked completely in control. Just 237 seconds into the match, their fans were chanting “1-0 to Arsenal” in the cricket stand.
Vincent Kompany sat in the directors' box serving a suspension for picking up three yellow cards and would have been unhappy to see his players retreat from Arsenal as the visitors easily moved the ball across the pitch into a promising attacking position.
Possession passed from Declan Rice to Gabriel Martinelli on the left flank. When Odegaard was found unmarked on the edge of the box, the Arsenal captain was given too much time and was able to fire a volley onto the post. It was his eighth match of the season, but his goal since scoring on December 2 ended a relative 12-match drought.
Odegaard also had a hand in the second goal that sealed the match before half-time. He orchestrated the attack with a pass that cut through the defense. As Havertz passed the ball to Trossard, he was brought down by Lorenz Assignon, who protested but was clearly fouled. Burnley players thought Odegaard had taken the penalty as he stood with the ball, but the Arsenal captain defended Saka from any opponents trying to get into his head while the players waited for VAR.
Saka lifted the ball and fired low into the corner of the goal before scoring the next goal 85 seconds after the break. Odegaard, of course, set it up again. This time the captain was fed by Havertz and played a reverse pass into Hannes Delcroix's channel. He invited Saka to approach the goal, and the England forward burst into the net.
«I don't think he needs much motivation,» Arteta said when asked if talk of a fight for Kylian Mbappe's signature could have inspired Saka. Trossard added a fourth as Burnley failed to clear, then Havertz added his own after collecting a long throw, picking off Delcroix and converting.
“We're in a good moment, we've won all our games so that's nice. There was hard work behind it and there are still many tough games ahead. We must continue to work hard,” Havertz said.
The company described Arsenal as the best in all aspects and feared the worst for Aaron Ramsey, who required lengthy treatment after suffering a serious knee injury.
“It didn’t look very good. It looks like something happened to his knee, but it’s too early to know,” Kompany said.
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