A week after tearing Liverpool apart in a superb display of fast-paced attacking football, Arsenal showed another side to their game as they rolled up their sleeves and toughed it out against Sean Dyche's relegation strugglers.
Arsene Wenger's Arsenal side is known for artistry over industry, but it was their battling qualities that impressed the Frenchman in their 1-0 Premier League win over Burnley on Saturday.
A week after tearing Liverpool apart in a superb display of fast-paced attacking football, Arsenal showed another side to their game as they rolled up their sleeves and toughed it out against Sean Dyche's relegation strugglers.
Aaron Ramsey's 12th minute goal proved the difference between the two sides, and though it was a scrappy goal-mouth scramble, it was enough to secure three points and an eighth successive victory that moved them four points behind league leaders Chelsea.
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"It was a battling performance more than a fluid performance, and that was because Burnley are perfectly organised and very fit to keep their shape for the full 90 minutes," Wenger told BBC. "They made life very difficult for us. The first goal was vital and we were a little bit in between: do we go for another or try to keep it tight. That is not always the best place to be.
"When you have not scored the second goal you are always under threat, but I thought we did enough to deserve to win the game," he added. Arsenal's eight-match winning streak is their best run of form since the famous 'Invincibles' team of 2004 embarked on a nine-game winning run.To do the same this season, Arsenal will almost certainly need to beat Jose Mourinho's side when they meet at the Emirates Stadium in two weeks' time.
With Chelsea - who play Queens Park Rangers on Sunday - having two games in hand, Wenger is understandably not getting carried away. "We have promised ourselves to do as well as we can until the end and then we will see where we stand," Wenger concluded.
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