FIRST it was Cesc Fabregas, then Samuel Eto’o, this time Alexis Sanchez. Banished by Barcelona, but the bane of Burnley.

No longer wanted at the Nou Camp, their crime was to be not quite as good as Lionel Messi, Xavi or Andres Iniesta. It is a description that would fit more or less every footballer on the planet.

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But put them in the Premier League, and they can certainly still play – as the Clarets have discovered that to their cost.

It was Fabregas who delivered one of the passes of the season so far to set up the second of Chelsea’s three goals in a man of the match display in Burnley’s opening game of the campaign.

A week ago, Eto’o rolled back the years with two goals as Everton also won 3-1 at Turf Moor.

On Saturday, a resilient Burnley side were eventually taken apart by the brilliant Sanchez.

Wherever you looked at the Emirates, he was there – marauding, probing, dazzling and eventually scoring, not once but twice. Just unplayable.

Former Clarets hero Jay Rodriguez knows the feeling. His England debut 12 months ago was rather overshadowed by a two-goal masterclass from the forward in a 2-0 win for Chile at Wembley.

Sanchez was still with Barcelona then. Arguably the man who replaced him at the Nou Camp this summer was Luis Suarez, the player with whom he was compared by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger after Saturday’s match.

“He was non-stop,” Sean Dyche admitted.

“A street fighter,” was how Wenger described him. A man who grew up on the tough South American streets of Tocopilla knows how to battle.

The one frustrating thing was that for all the Chilean’s supreme skills with his feet, at 5ft 7in he is not entirely known for his aerial threat. Yet it was with a header that he eventually broke the deadlock after 70 minutes, darting in between Michael Duff and Kieran Trippier to meet Calum Chambers’ cross.

Arsenal were without Mesut Ozil, Olivier Giroud and Jack Wilshere – the player who was so close to joining Burnley on loan five years ago before Owen Coyle moved to Bolton and took him there instead.

But although the Gunners had not won a league game at the Emirates since the opening day, it is extremely rare that they fail to score.

With 32 shots, 18 corners and 68 per cent possession, you cannot say the goals were not coming – even if some were starting to hit the panic button when Burnley had a bright spell just after half time.

“How can Burnley be playing us off the pitch? This is ridiculous,” Arsenal fan Piers Morgan tweeted.

The Gunners, though, have a well-honed habit of breaking through late on. Danny Welbeck scored in the 90th minute to earn them a 2-2 draw at home to Hull a fortnight ago, and two late goals gave them a 2-1 Champions League victory at Anderlecht days later.

Had they not won that game, one wonders whether Wenger might have rested Sanchez on Saturday, in preparation for the return match against the Belgian side tomorrow. No such luck for Burnley.

Clarets fans applauded their team off at the final whistle, determined to stick by them.

Sometimes the opposition is just too good, and in Sanchez they had a player who few defences could have stopped in this form. For all that Burnley tried, the task was just too great.