Newcastle United defender Dan Burn was relieved to come through unscathed following a clash with Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka during Tuesday’s 0-0 Premier League draw at the Emirates Stadium, speaking to the Magpies website.
You get this sometimes. A meeting between two high-flying sides with ambitions as big as dinner plates turning into a rather drab affair. Tense. Nervy. A game with far more fiery flashpoints than clear goalscoring openings.
Joelinton may have squandered the game’s best chance, but Arsenal certainly created the majority of them, even if they were rather few and far between.
Even during a relatively quiet night, Nick Pope was still called upon to make some typically sharp reaction saves. Particularly during the first-half, when Saka left Burn for dead on the right-hand side.
That was, however, one of the few times Saka got the better of the Blyth-born giant on a gritty night in North London.
Arsenal and Newcastle United draw 0-0 at the Emirates Stadium
“It was tough,” Burn sighed at full-time; the Premier League’s most watertight backline standing firm up against the division’s joint-best attack.
“(Oleksandr) Zinchenko was coming into midfield, which meant we were five-v-four at the back. I was having to come in a lot, so Saka was having quite a lot of room. Second half, we didn’t press as high as we did earlier so the distances (between the lines) wasn’t so much.
“Saka’s a great player. He showed at the World Cup how well he’s done and how he’s grown into the player he’s become. He can go both ways. So it’s tough and you need a little bit of luck.”
Newcastle, sitting third in the table, have now conceded just 11 goals in 18 games. A remarkable record, and Burn is a major part of that. A player who has spent the much of his Premier League career glancing nervously over his shoulder now dreaming of the Champions League anthem.
“We won’t get pushed over easy,” Burn adds; the boyhood Newcastle supporter typifying the Magpies’ never-say-die spirit.
“We’re a really good group of lads. And we’ll give as good as we get.”
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