BURNLEY’S resistance was eventually broken as they were beaten 3-0 at Arsenal this afternoon.

The Clarets faced an uphill task throughout the afternoon as Arsenal dominated possession and territory, but the game remained goalless until the final 20 minutes – only for Alexis Sanchez and Calum Chambers to score in quick succession.

Sanchez then added a third late on.

Burnley were pinned back for the majority of the first half and Kieran Trippier had to block Danny Welbeck’s goalbound shot after the striker had danced through the defence.

Santi Cazorla then fired inches wide before the lively Sanchez saw his curling effort tipped around the post by Tom Heaton.

Sanchez was at the heart of most of Arsenal’s best play and the Chilean curled another shot just wide before Heaton saved from the livewire as he advanced into the box on the left.

The Clarets started the second half in much brighter fashion and Per Mertesacker had to be alert to prevent Danny Ings turning a shot past Wojciech Szczesny, although Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had a shot deflected narrowly wide at the other end.

The Gunners summoned Aaron Ramsey from the bench and Michael Duff had to make a fine block on the line to deny Cazorla.

But the home side finally got their goal in the 70th minute when Chambers crossed from the right and the 5ft 7in Sanchez jumped in between Michael Duff and Kieran Trippier to head home.

A second goal followed only two minutes later from a corner as Welbeck saw his initial shot blocked on the line by substitute Lukas Jutkiewicz, but defender Chambers fired in the rebound from close range. Arsenal pushed for more goals and Heaton had to deny subs Lukas Podolski and Theo Walcott.

Podolski came closer still as his thunderous volley smashed against the near post, but the Gunners did add a third in the 90th minute when Kieran Gibbs crossed from the left and Sanchez sidestepped Stephen Ward before slotting home his second goal of the game.

Burnley: Tom Heaton, Kieran Trippier, Michael Duff, Jason Shackell, Stephen Ward; George Boyd, Dean Marney (Nathaniel Chalobah 80), David Jones, Scott Arfield; Danny Ings, Marvin Sordell (Lukas Jutkiewicz 68).

Subs not used: Matt Gilks, Michael Keane, Ben Mee, Ross Wallace, Michael Kightly.

Arsenal: Wojciech Szczesny; Calum Chambers, Per Mertesacker, Nacho Monreal, Kieran Gibbs; Mikel Arteta (Aaron Ramsey 63), Mathieu Flamini; Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Theo Walcott 80), Alexis Sanchez, Santi Cazorla; Danny Welbeck (Lukas Podolski 80).

Subs not used: Emiliano Martinez, Hector Bellerin, Tomas Rosicky, Yaya Sanogo.

Referee: Craig Pawson. Attendance: 60,012.