Arsenal 2-1 Burnley: Gunners’ defensive woes, Ceballos’ impact, and other talking points

Arsenal secured all three points by beating Burnley 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium earlier today, and in the process made it two wins out of two league games.

Alexandre Lacazette scored a goal early on in the first half but Arsenal’s lead was nullified by Ashley Barnes’ cool finish in the 43rd minute.

Eventually, it was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s clinical strike fourteen minutes after the break which proved to be the decider.

Here are three talking points from Arsenal’s victory over Sean Dyche’s side.

Ceballos shines in his full Arsenal debut

Signed from Real Madrid on loan, Dani Ceballos certainly made his presence felt in his first start for Arsenal.

Ceballos was a joy to watch in the middle of the park owing to the manner in which he unlocked Burnley’s defence regularly and how relentlessly he worked on pressing opposition players.

The Spanish international was central to most of the attacking endeavours of the north London based outfit, and he registered a couple of assists.

He was creative with his passes, showed immense work-ethic, and regained possession on a number of occasions to earn the admiration of the Arsenal fans.

Barnes will be an instrumental figure for Burnley this season

Last weekend, Barnes smashed two goals against Southampton as he helped Burnley secure a 3-0 win in the opening Premier League fixture at Turf Moor.

The 29-year-old got on the score sheet against the Gunners as well, after he found the back of the net just before the interval.

Barnes was present in the right place at the right time and apart from his goal, the other aspects of his game were impressive as well.

He was a constant threat to Sokratis and David Luiz, was commendable in the air and held the ball well in the final third to bring his teammates into the equation.

The sharp contrast between Arsenal’s attack and defence

Arsenal seemed to have the right mixture in the attacking department, with Aubameyang and Lacazette firing once again. The two work well together.

Besides, Nicolas Pepe’s addition has added more firepower and Emery has plenty of resources at his disposal to cater to his side’s offensive needs.

However, Arsenal’s backline still looks shaky. David Luiz started the game and showed some signs of quality at the back.

As a whole, however, the back-four struggled and were bereft of resilience. They were poor while dealing with the crosses, were all over the place at times and must improve drastically in the coming months.