An early first half strike from Aaron Ramsey was enough to give Arsenal a 1-0 win at relegation threatened Burnley in Saturday’s late kick-off in the Premier League.
The result sees Arsenal remain second on the league table with 66 points, four points behind league leaders Chelsea that have two games in hand though.
Alexis Sanchez was denied by Burnley goalkeeper Tom Heaton in the second minute but the Gunners went on to break the deadlock after 12 minutes through Ramsey.
The Welsh midfielder took advantage of hesitant defending to fire into the roof of the Burnley goal, pouncing on a loose ball after efforts from Sanchez and Mesut Özil were blocked.
Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina kept out free-kicks from David Jones and Kieran Trippier while Santi Cazorla saw a free-kick of his shave the Burnley post as the Gunners went into the break ahead.
Ashley Barnes was denied by Ospina as was Sanchez by Heaton as both sides probed for a goal in the second half, which petered out with little fuss as Arsenal claimed an eighth successive league win and 16th in 19 matches this year.
Elsewhere in the league earlier on Saturday, Yanick Bolasie scored a hattrick as Crystal Palace claimed a fourth win in five matches with an impressive 4-1 demolition of Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
And at the Hawthorns, Jamie Vardy scored a minute into injury time to hand bottom side Leicester City a thrilling 3-2 win at Brown Ideye’s West Bromwich-Albion.
West Brom went into the first half break in front thanks to Craig Gardner’s goal midway through the first half, after David Nugent had cancelled out Darren Fletcher’s early goal for West Brom.
But Nigel Pearson’s side rallied to claim a crucial win in their battle to avoid the drop, starting with Robert Huth’s equaliser in the 80th minute before Vardy’s dramatic late winner.
As a result, Leicester have 25 points is now just three points off safety with seven matches left to play while QPR – at home to Chelsea on Sunday – and Burnley both have 26 points having however played a game more.