Arsenal 1

Burnley 0

ARSENAL HAVE ONE hand on their first Premier League title in 22 years following a 1-0 win against Burnley at the Emirates Stadium.

Kai Havertz headed Arsenal in front from a corner with nine minutes of the first half remaining before he was fortunate to escape a red card for a rash tackle midway through the second.

The victory takes Mikel Arteta’s players five points clear of Manchester City who must now win at Bournemouth on Tuesday night to take the title race to the final day.

Should Pep Guardiola’s side fail to win at the Vitality Stadium – where Bournemouth have not lost a game in the eight matches since their 3-2 defeat to Arsenal at the turn of the year – then the Gunners will celebrate the title with a game to spare.

Arsenal looked to have blown their bid to claim a first championship since Arsene Wenger oversaw the unbeaten ‘Invincibles’ to glory in 2004 following a 2-1 defeat at rivals City on 19 April.

But the Gunners, runners-up in the league for the past three seasons, have bounced back by winning their next four without conceding, and are now in pole position to abolish their ‘nearly men’ tags, and earn Arteta the second trophy of his near seven-year tenure.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Indeed, their victory here could kickstart the finest dozen days of the club’s 144-year history, with a Champions League final to come against Paris St Germain on 30 May – the Gunners have never won Europe’s grandest competition.

Prior to then, Arteta’s side will take on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, with, at worst, a two-point cushion over City.

Here, they huffed and puffed for most of the opening period without success. Havertz shot wide, and Leandro Trossard struck the foot of the post from outside of the area.

In the 34th minute, Bukayo Saka wanted a penalty when he fell following a challenge by Lucas Pires as he looked set to pull the trigger. Referee Paul Tierney was unmoved, and so too was VAR, much to Arteta’s disbelief. But the Spaniard’s touchline angst transformed to ecstasy moments later when Havertz provided the breakthrough.

Arsenal had attempted two short corners before reverting to their tried-and-tested method. Saka’s pinpoint cross into a congested area was met by Havertz and Arsenal had lift-off with their 18th goal from a corner in the league so far – accounting for more than a quarter of their 69 strikes.

It was also Saka’s 50th Premier League assist. Only Dennis Begkamp (94), Thierry Henry (74), Cesc Fabregas (70) and Mesut Ozil (54) have managed more in red and white.

Saka’s curling effort before the interval whistled wide, and as the second half begun, the hosts knew another goal was required to bury the prospect of a nervous wobble.

Eberechi Eze’s strike into the ground clipped Max Weiss’ crossbar, but while the Gunners’ advantage stood only at one, Burnley were in the game, and City very much still in the title race.

Kai Havertz is shown a yellow card. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Then, a huge let-off for Havertz and Arsenal when the German left a left boot high on the back of Lesley Ugochukwu’s left calf in the 65th minute, but VAR elected not to get involved.

It had become a stop-start scrappy affair, and although the anxiety failed to reach fever pitch, the nerves amongst the 60,000 fans was unavoidable.

However, as the clock ticked down, and David Raya’s goal remained untested, Havertz’s first-half strike looked to be enough.

And so it proved with Arsenal now on the brink of glory.