DRAWING DRAWING ARSENAL!

BARRACKED by baying Burnley supporters, Matteo Guendouzi mimicked hoofing a football as he trudged down the Turf Moor tunnel.

Arsenal might not have resorted to petty squabbles had they spent more time with their foot on the ball, leaving here with the feeling that they probably got out of jail.

Yesterday brought further evidence that the club’s reincarnation under Mikel Arteta’s tutelage will likely be a lengthy process.

There were signs that his methods are rubbing off on the players, but Arsenal squandered chances to take the lead before half-time. They then let Burnley back into the match, embroiling themselves in the niggly side of a match Sean Dyche’s team should have won.

‘We were so sloppy and put ourselves in big trouble,’ was Arteta’s rather brutal assessment and one that had all the hallmarks of a certain Pep Guardiola. It took him a year to develop Manchester City into a juggernaut and Arteta deserves time with less finance.

The positive is that Arsenal have not lost on the road under their new boss, although it is a fourth consecutive Premier League draw, as well as their fourth in a row away from home. They have drawn 13 of their 25 league games, more than any other team. Only Watford and

Norwich have won fewer games. On the flipside, only unbeaten Liverpool have lost fewer.

Arsenal are playing well in patches, showing glimpses of what they might achieve in the future, yet cannot sustain that for longer than a half or less.

As a result, Burnley will feel they ought to have emerged victorious, particularly given Jay Rodriguez side-footed a shot against the Arsenal bar from six yards late on when he had to score. Arteta pointed towards his side’s early dominance but the hosts should have recorded their first win over Arsenal since 1974.

As it was, this was a first point in the fixture for Dyche after several near misses over the years.

Rodriguez’s chance with 11 minutes left was the defining moment, clattering Dwight McNeil’s knockdown on to the frame of the goal. He appealed in vain that it had crept over the line.

‘A very good performance,’ Dyche said. ‘I don’t want to over-egg it, but I thought we did enough to keep a clean sheet and score.’

The Burnley manager was actually being rather understated: Ben Mee, Jeff Hendrick and Chris Wood all went close.

Arteta noted the wastefulness of his attackers, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette squandering presentable opportunities in the opening quarter. Lacazette has not scored in an Arsenal win since Burnley came to the Emirates in August.

The French striker headed wide when right in front of goal, Aubameyang meandering off his left flank to float in a cross. The Gabonese also ought to have done better when David Luiz clipped an extravagant 40-yard pass over Burnley’s back line, the striker clear but shanking a shot wide.

Once James Tarkowski’s lastditch defending prevented Lacazette a certain goal, Burnley began to sniff a result as Arsenal shrunk into their shells for well over 40 minutes.

It is lazy to suggest Burnley make things difficult by adopting the most old-fashioned of values but, once they awoke from their early slumber, there was an unashamed defiance to the way in which Burnley wanted to play. The away fans briefly chorused something about ‘anti-football’, a sentiment that was later repeated by Arsenal defender Shkodran Mustafi on TV.

Tarkowski’s heroic defending, stopping Lacazette in his tracks eight yards out, came with an ugly- looking shove when the striker lay on the ground.

Suddenly, Arsenal were given far less time to impose themselves.

That undoubtedly agitated those in yellow. Mesut Ozil was booked for dissent, slamming the ball into an advertising hoarding after fouling Mee. But the hosts could not quite make their pressure tell.

‘The front two were excellent, they never stopped running, and

created those chances,’ Dyche said. ‘The defending side of things — the shape and energy — was good.’

Nick Pope had smothered Aubameyang’s lob and the forward later sent a diving header wide.

‘After 20 minutes we started to concede lots of unnecessary set pieces and then you lose consistency in your play,’ Arteta said. ‘I was really disappointed by the start to the second half. The positive thing is the reaction in the last 20 minutes. But we could not control any aspect of the game.’