Xhaka apologises to Arsenal fans after Burnley gaffe

Granit Xhaka apologised to Arsenal fans after his mistake gifted Burnley their equaliser in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Turf Moor.

The Gunners had led through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's strike and saw a good Bukayo Saka chance go begging before the hosts drew level in fortuitous circumstances.

Xhaka received a short pass from goalkeeper Bernd Leno and, when trying to find David Luiz, succeeded only in sending the ball into his own net via the hip of Clarets striker Chris Wood.

The incident ended up costing Arsenal three points after a frenetic end to the game, in which Erik Pieters had a penalty and red card for handball correctly overturned after a VAR review and Dani Ceballos smashed a shot off the post.

Xhaka later took to his official Instagram page to say sorry to supporters, admitting he shared in their frustration.

"I hold my hands up for their goal and I'm sorry for the mistake," he wrote.

"That's football and right now I feel just as frustrated as all of you."

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta refused to criticise Xhaka after the match, insisting he wants his players to be bold enough to play out from the back.

"We are talking about [cheap goals] all the time and just trying to nullify anything that we give to the opponent," he said.

"In the last few weeks, we have done that. We have to improve that individually, as in the end we have to make decisions on the pitch and it looks easy from the outside.

"It's not that easy away from home, but if someone makes a mistake because they're playing the way we want to play, I will always support them. If someone is hiding and doesn't want to play and then makes a mistake, I'm not going to have that."

The draw means Arsenal stay 10th in the Premier League, nine points adrift of the top four.