Alexis Sanchez converted from the spot seven minutes into added time to rescue the 10 men of Arsenal a 2-1 win over Burnley at the Emirates Stadium.
For so long, Shkodran Mustafi appeared to be the unlikely match winner with his first goal in English football, but Andre Gray levelled up from the spot in added time for the Clarets.
A first point away to Arsenal, and just a second point on their travels all season, soon evaded them as Sanchez himself tucked away with the final meaningful kick of the game.
The Gunners were made to work hard for their victory – a fifth in succession on home soil – after a red card was shown to Granit Xhaka soon after finding the breakthrough, but in the end they got the job done to climb into second place in the table.
Burnley had a couple of openings of their own in the first half, the best of which saw Andre Gray control a Boyd cross and blast into Petr Cech’s midriff, while Ashley Barnes also forced the Czech into a sprawling save.
Alexis Sanchez was beginning to see more of the ball in dangerous position as the goalless first half transpired, sending one curled shot agonisingly wide of the far post and being denied by Heaton from 22 yards out with his other attempt.
Arsenal felt that they should have had a penalty just short of the hour mark when Gray tripped Mustafi inside the box, but just a minute or two later the Gunners were ahead regardless through the German’s flicked header into the far corner.
The Clarets were given an unexpected lifeline 25 minutes from time, however, as Granit Xhaka – with a habit for making strong challenges – went in on Steven Defour with both feet off the ground to earn a straight red from referee Jonathan Moss.
Defour came close to a leveller when sending a free kick towards the top corner for Cech to palm away, but Burnley – who had won three of their last four league encounters prior to today – were struggling to make Arsenal pay for their disciplinary issues.
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