Overdue on this. Apologies. Gonna blame the puppy.
The Result:
Burnley 1, Arsenal 1
How It Happened:
Arsenal raced out to the lead, but Burnley held it together, evened it up on a Chris Wood goal late in the first half, and then survived a rollercoaster second half (while also, you know, narrowly missing a win in a rollercoaster second half) to hold onto a point.
What It Means:
With everyone in their section of the table done with this weekend’s games, Burnley is now in 15th…
- …three points and a five-goal margin behind Southampton for 14th (Southampton’s played one fewer game).
- …three points and a one-goal margin ahead of Newcastle for 16th (Newcastle’s played one fewer game).
- …four points ahead of Brighton for 17th (Brighton’s played one fewer game and leads Burnley in goal differential by eight).
- …and four points ahead of Fulham for 18th (Fulham’s the topmost team in relegation position—they’ve played the same number of games as Burnley and they’re five ahead of Burnley in goal differential).
It hasn’t been a boom of a five-game stretch, but the two points over the last three, all against top-half teams, has Burnley in a decent position. Ten matches left. Four or five against the top half. One against Newcastle. One against Fulham. One against Sheffield United, who’s almost definitely getting relegated. Four of the ten at Turf Moor.
Other News:
Erik Pieters had a handball reversed by VAR. The corresponding penalty may have given Arsenal the win. Pieters was then subjected to some online abuse, presumably from Arsenal fans, including comments wishing harm on his wife and unborn child.
So that’s not very cool.
But good for Burnley that VAR made the call it did.
General Thoughts:
I should have gotten doughnuts today and I didn’t. Also, I never know whether to spell it doughnuts or donuts and I feel guilty either way.
Burnley Thoughts:
The Clarets are in a good spot, and with next weekend Burnley’s last match of the month, it’s fair to hope on the lads finishing March still ahead on Newcastle and Brighton, who’ll have caught up on games played by then. They could also be ahead of Fulham, and Fulham will have played one more match than the Clarets at that point, which is a good situation for Burnley. It’s at Everton next weekend, so not an easy one, but another point would go a long way. The vibes are pretty good right now.
