Burnley 0-1 Arsenal: Odegaard secures back-to-back wins for Gunners

Martin Odegaard’s sublime first-half free-kick secured a 1-0 Premier League victory for Arsenal at Burnley.

The Gunners lifted the gloom by getting their season up and running with a win over Norwich City last weekend and they doubled their points tally at Turf Moor on Saturday.

Odegaard scored his first goal since returning to the club on a permanent deal from Real Madrid with a moment of class that had been badly lacking in a flat first half.

Referee Anthony Taylor overturned his decision after awarding Matej Vydra a penalty with 20 minutes to go, with Burnley unable to get their first top-flight win of the season in a week that saw boss Sean Dyche sign a new contract.

Ashley Barnes put a free header wide from 12 yards out and Arsenal were struggling to break the Clarets down before they opened the scoring on the half-hour mark.

Bukayo Saka was upended by Ashley Westwood as he surged towards the penalty area and Odegaard punished the midfielder, bending a sumptuous left-foot strike into the top-left corner from around 20 yards out.

Emile Smith Rowe came close to a second with a first-time shot that flew just over the crossbar after Nicolas Pepe picked him out and there were boos from Burnley fans when the half-time whistle sounded.

Smith Rowe failed to finish off a slick move after Burnley applied pressure early in the second half.

Maxwel Cornet came on for his Burnley debut along with Vydra 11 minutes after the break and he came close to an equaliser soon after being introduced, Aaron Ramsdale tipping the Ivory Coast international’s shot from inside the box over the bar.

Vydra was awarded a spot-kick when Ramsdale was adjudged to have brought him down following a poor backpass from Ben White, but referee Taylor ruled the keeper had touched the ball after checking the pitchside monitor.