Pain in the Arsenal
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Arsenal Vs Burnley: 5 things we learned – The modern midfield

By Andrew Dowdeswell

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 17: Alexandre Lacazette of Arsenal celebrates after scoring his team's first goal with Ainsley Maitland-Niles during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Burnley FC at Emirates Stadium on August 17, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 17: Alexandre Lacazette of Arsenal celebrates after scoring his team's first goal with Ainsley Maitland-Niles during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Burnley FC at Emirates Stadium on August 17, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /
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LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 17: Alexandre Lacazette of Arsenal celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal with Ainsley Maitland-Niles during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Burnley FC at Emirates Stadium on August 17, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 17: Alexandre Lacazette of Arsenal celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal with Ainsley Maitland-Niles during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Burnley FC at Emirates Stadium on August 17, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /

Arsenal hosted Burnley in their season-opening match at the Emirates Stadium at Saturday lunchtime. Here are five things we learned from the 2-1 win.

Arsenal opened their Premier League campaign at the Emirates with a 2-1 victory over Burnley. After squeezing past Newcastle United last weekend, the Gunners started the season two wins from two before two difficult matches against Liverpool and Spurs loom. The goals came from Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, predictably, and the defence held strong, just, under a bombardment of high balls.

Find the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal Podcast here — Dani Ceballos, the Best Player in the World

Here are five things we learned from the 2-1 victory.

LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 17: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal scores his team’s second goal during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Burnley FC at Emirates Stadium on August 17, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 17: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal scores his team’s second goal during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Burnley FC at Emirates Stadium on August 17, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) /

5. The strikers continue where they left off

Last season, Arsenal were a mid-table Premier League team with two world-class centre-forwards. They were frequently bailed out by the pair, who scored more than 40 goals in all competitions. And this season, this pair of elite strikers has continued right where they left off, scoring all of the Gunners’ goals.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang notched the only goal against Newcastle last weekend. This time around, his partner, Alexandre Lacazette, opened the scoring before he finishing it off in the second half. Both goals were excellently taken, Lacazette showing terrific strength, control and a clinical streak to turn and finish and Aubameyang lashing a razor strike from the edge of the penalty area midway through the second period.

Arsenal are a better team than they were last season — more on this later. The strikers have more support around them. But this team will go as far as the strikers can take them, and based on their showings thus far, that might well be a long way.