Arsenal passed another obstacle in their quest to win the Premier League title with Kai Havertz securing a 1-0 win over Burnley, moving them five points clear of second-placed Manchester City.
Burnley earned two corners inside the opening two minutes and had Hannibal Mejbri shown a little more composure Burnley could have taken a shock lead from one counter-attack.
Havertz broke stubborn Burnley’s resistance when he headed in a Bukayo Saka corner shortly before halftime to get Arsenal close to a first league title in 22 years.
The tension lifted but it descended again after the interval as Arsenal missed several chances to secure the points safely with Eberechi Eze bouncing one effort onto the crossbar.
Havertz was fortunate when a poor tackle on Burnley midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu that earned him a yellow card was viewed by VAR for a possible red, but the relieved German escaped more serious punishment.
A huge roar heralded the final whistle before Arsenal’s players took a lap of honour and they will now hope Bournemouth can spark an even bigger north London knees-up on Tuesday against Manchester City. If not, the wait will go on to Sunday.
“I’m going to be the biggest ever Bournemouth fan,” Arteta said of Man City’s trip to the south coast. “I’ll be there in front of the TV but I don’t know how much I’ll be able to watch.”
Since losing to City one month ago, Arsenal have now recorded four successive league wins without conceding a goal to reclaim pole position. Arsenal have 82 from 37 games with Manchester City on 77 from 36 and Mikel Arteta’s side will be confirmed as champions if City fail to win at Bournemouth.
Should City take the race to the wire, Arsenal would be guaranteed the title by beating Crystal Palace away on Sunday.
