The second Premier League weekend got started off with Arsenal defeating Burnley at home 2-1; and Gunners summer transfer window acquisition Dani Ceballos was the man of the match. The Spaniard, acquired via loan from Real Madrid, was a force defensively and controlled the tempo.
It was a sublime home debut for the midfielder. He was also instrumental in both of his side’s goals on the afternoon, scored by Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang. Second year manager Unai Emery was very impressed by what he saw.
“It’s to use his quality in the best position in our team,” Emery said.
“I spoke with him before coming here, it’s to play as an eight and a No.10. He started like a 10 but changed with Willock. He can feel better on the pitch.”
Since their most recent promotion to the top flight, Burnley have now failed to take a single point from any of their seven matches against Gunners.
Aubameyang’s 64′ goal proved to be the game winner, and you absolutely got to love his celebration.
Turning the ?p??#ARSBUR @Aubameyang7 pic.twitter.com/xA8durRxFT
— Premier League (@premierleague) August 17, 2019
Ceballos, Lacazette, Aubameyang all up and running in this game, played out well from Burnley's press. Leno made some vital saves. Few bits need to be sorted with our defending but, I'm liking the confidence we are showing.
Just look at this. #AFC
— C (@AFC_Carys) August 17, 2019
In his 66 games with the north London side, Aubameyang now has 43 goals and a dozen assists. If you run the calculations, you’ll see that it comes to 94 minutes per goal/assist.
In other words, on average, he’s involved in goal every full game plus extra time.
To see video of the Lacazette goal, and the beautiful service in from the corner by Ceballos, click the tweet below:
Arsenal strike first! Alexander Lacazette makes it happen in front of goal ?
Watch the match now on NBCSN, or stream here: short.url/aBcXyZ pic.twitter.com/VMnZzApnyE
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) August 17, 2019
Up next for Arsenal are two big six clashes- at Liverpool a week from today and then hosting Tottenham Hotspur in Emirates leg of the north London derby on Sept 1.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com on Twitter here and his cat on Instagram at this link.
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