Five-star Arsenal make club history in Burnley demolition

Bukayo Saka's brace, Martin Odegaard's drive, Leandro Trossard's curler and Kai Havertz's finish contributed to another astonishing away performance from the Gunners, who left the Clarets battered and bruised with an unsympathetic display.

While there was no repeat of last weekend's six-goal slaughter of West Ham United - their record Premier League away success - Arsenal's triumph saw them win their opening five league games of a calendar year for the very first time, as they quickly cut Liverpool's lead at the summit of the table back down to two points.

Neither Mikel Arteta nor Vincent Kompany made any alterations to their starting lineups, and only Emile Smith Rowe was given the green light to exit the Gunners' infirmary; the Englishman took his seat on the bench.

Smith Rowe and the rest of the Arsenal dugout were in ecstasy just four minutes into the Turf Moor showdown, as Gabriel Martinelli found Odegaard on the edge of the box with a slick outside-of-the-boot pass, and the Gunners captain took one touch inside the D before firing a crisp strike into the bottom corner.

From a Burnley perspective, the unmarked Odegaard was given far too much time and space to pick his spot as the Clarets failed to charge him down, although the hosts were more than happy to let the Gunners dominate the ball from a distance.

Arteta's troops showed no major urgency to go for the jugular and score goal number two, whereas Burnley managed to fashion a promising opening of their own in the 25th minute, but David Raya was equal to Wilson Odobert's drive from the left.

As was the case in their 6-0 demolition of West Ham, though, a switch flipped for Arsenal towards the end of the half and should have had their second in the 34th minute, as Saka seemingly teed up Trossard for a tap-in, but the Belgian missed his kick.

Trossard atoned for his error just five minutes later, though, as he was wiped out by Lorenz Assignon inside the area, giving referee Jarred Gillett no choice but to point to the penalty spot.

James Trafford guessed the right way, but Saka's penalty was perfectly placed into the bottom corner as Arsenal deservedly doubled their advantage, and the Hale End protege killed the game as a contest just 87 seconds into the second half.

The effervescent Odegaard was unsurprisingly at the heart of the move, slipping Saka in down the right, and the Englishman shifted the ball onto his weaker right foot before unleashing a thunderous attempt into the roof of the net at Trafford's near post.

Burnley's afternoon went from bad to worse when Aaron Ramsey stayed down after a challenge from Odegaard, and following a lengthy stoppage, the midfielder was hauled off on a stretcher to a standing ovation from the Turf Moor crowd.

There was no mercy from the men in yellow, though, and with 66 minutes on the clock, Arteta's side had their fourth, as Trossard curled a first-time shot into the bottom corner after Havertz's blocked toe-poke fell at his feet.

Havertz's attempt to find a gap in between two Burnley defenders was a questionable one, but the German's name was up in lights in the 78th minute, as he latched onto Jakub Kiwior's long throw, nutmegged Hannes Delcroix and crashed home the visitors' fifth with a composed finish.

The disheartened Burnley faithful were not best pleased to see 10 minutes of added time go up on the board following Ramsey's injury, but there would be no further humiliation for Kompany's side on a rainy Lancashire afternoon.

Arsenal, temporarily up to second place, now gear up for Wednesday's Champions League last-16 first leg away to Porto, while Burnley - who remain 19th - have a full week to recuperate before next Saturday's journey to Crystal Palace.