Arsenal’s boos up is fuelled by the Clarets

MORE GUNNERS FRUSTRATION

ARSENAL’S end-of-season, bringyour-own boos party fell flat – and so far 2022 has been a stinker.

For the first time in 32 years, the Gunners are out of all the cup competitions, at home and abroad, before the end of January.

And achieving fourth place in the Premier League will be a stretch if they continue to be profligate.

December’s run of five straight wins is a distant memory. They have not scored in four games and, for all their promise on a blank sabbath, they were as blunt as the back end of a bus.

At one stage, manager Mikel Arteta lost his rag on the touchline. He insisted it was nothing to do with Burnley’s timewasting, but some of the Clarets’ set pieces took longer than reading a novel.

Referee David Coote added only four minutes of stoppage time. That just about covered one of Nick Pope’s goal kicks.

But the Clarets’ dogged back line refused to buckle when Arsenal cranked up the pressure after half-time. James Tarkowski and Ben

Mee were outstanding.

This was Burnley’s 5,000th league match in the top four divisions, not including play-offs – the second club to reach the landmark after Preston.

It wasn’t the most exciting game in their history. Sean Dyche’s side did not look like a team who had won just once in 17 league games, and in a match short of talking points, Ashley Westwood’s first-half challenge on Kieran Tierney was probably the most contentious.

Coote’s sanction of a yellow card – for treading without due care and attention rather than a stamp – was probably about right.

It was also the closest Burnley have come to having a player sent off since Arteta took charge of Arsenal in 2019. In that time, the Gunners have collected 14 red cards, and yet some would have you believe that Burnley are cloggers.

The Gunners are in better shape than after their desultory defeat in same fixture 13 months ago, but they lack a cutting edge and, on an infuriating afternoon for their supporters, chances came and went.

Emile Smith Rowe was denied by Pope’s outstretched legs and Alex Lacazette’s goalbound effort from the rebound was blocked by Mee.

Bukayo Saka bent his shot just wide, while Martin Odegaard’s freekick had too much altitude. But the

Gunners’ best chance came midway through the second period, Lacazette stabbing just wide after Smith Rowe’s electrifying burst into the box.

Arsenal nearly managed to lose, Dwight McNeil firing narrowly over after his breakaway in added time