Given the doom and gloom which engulfed Arsenal’s opening month of the season, you suspect Mikel Arteta will be happy to take wins of any kind at the moment. Do results against Burnley and Norwich – two teams without a victory to their name this season – completely shift that macabre feeling among
Arsenal supporters? Perhaps not. The nature of the performances will be far from convincing, either.
But there was a moment here midway through the second half, as a vociferous Turf Moor crowd began to back Burnley and the hosts threw everything but the metaphorical kitchen sink at Arteta’s side, when you began to wonder when, not if, the visitors would collapse and throw away back-to-back league victories. Yet, thanks in no small part to a magnificent performance from Gabriel at the back, they held firm and held out.