The best way out of a tight spot, it turns out, is a dead ball. Arsenal's 18th goal from a corner this season — a Kai Havertz header from three yards out, fed by a Bukayo Saka delivery — was enough to see off Burnley at the Emirates on Monday evening and take Mikel Arteta's side to the very edge of the greatest achievement in the club's modern history.

Two games remain. One win, potentially, separates Arsenal from a Premier League title that has felt simultaneously inevitable and impossibly fragile all season long. A 1-0 victory was not pretty. It rarely is at this stage of a title race. But it was enough, and in the current climate, enough is everything.

Jover's corners carry Arsenal again

Set-piece coach Nicolas Jover has become something of a cult figure among the Arsenal faithful this season, and on the evidence of another corner goal against Burnley, the adoration is entirely earned. Arsenal's tally of 18 goals from corners is not just a Premier League high — it represents four more than any other side in the division. That is not coincidence. It is craft, repetition, and meticulous preparation. Whatever Jover is being paid, the noises out of the Emirates suggest the supporters feel it is not quite enough.

Havertz was the beneficiary on the night, drifting free of the Burnley backline with 35 minutes gone and nodding home with the kind of calm that belied everything going on around him. It was his first league goal at the Emirates since February of last year, and it arrived at precisely the moment Arsenal needed something to cling to.

A night of nerves and fine margins

The Emirates had been a calm place at kick-off, the sort of mild May evening that almost lets you forget the stakes. Almost. Martin Ødegaard probed and probed in the early exchanges without ever truly threatening, while Leandro Trossard rattled the foot of the post in a moment that briefly sucked the air from the ground. A VAR check for a potential penalty after a challenge on Saka came and went without incident.

Cristhian Mosquera started at right-back, a selection that spoke more to squad management at this congested stage of the campaign than to tactical preference. He is a solid defender, but Arsenal were looking for width and penetration, and at times those outlets were hard to find. The visitors, to their credit, were organised and disciplined — Burnley have nothing to play for in terms of the top flight given their position, but they pressed with purpose and made life uncomfortable.

Arteta has spoken throughout this run-in about managing the pressure, about keeping his players loose and focused. There is something almost endearing about his determination to project calm in what is clearly a white-knuckle environment for everyone inside the club. On nights like this one, where the football is grinding and the margin for error feels impossibly thin, that composure at the top matters.

The title is within touching distance

The mathematics are straightforward now, even if the nerves are not. Arsenal sit two wins away from a title that would represent, by any measure, the pinnacle of the Arteta era — and a landmark moment for a club that has waited a long time to be back in this conversation. The alternative, letting this slip from here, is too grim to fully consider: four different trophies gone in the space of a handful of games would constitute one of English football's great collapses.

That is not the mood around the Emirates right now, though. The market has been pointing in one direction for weeks. The set pieces keep finding a way. Havertz is floating. And Arsenal, battered and tense and occasionally breathless, keep on winning.

FAQs

Frequently asked

How many goals have Arsenal scored from corners this season?
Arsenal have scored 18 goals from corners in the Premier League this season — the highest tally in the division and four more than the next best side.
What do Arsenal need to win the Premier League title?
Following their 1-0 win over Burnley, Arsenal have two games remaining. They need to win both — or rely on results elsewhere — to clinch the Premier League title.
Who scored Arsenal's winner against Burnley?
Kai Havertz scored the only goal of the game, heading home from a Bukayo Saka corner with around 35 minutes played at the Emirates Stadium.