Sanchez saves 10-man Arsenal, last-minute Panenka highlights manic finish

London - Alexis Sanchez kept his nerve to haul 10-man Arsenal into second place in the Premier League as the Chilean's last-gasp penalty sealed a dramatic 2-1 home win over Burnley on Sunday.

Arsene Wenger's side appeared to have blown its chance to get back in the title race when Burnley's Andre Gray scored a stoppage-time penalty to cancel out Shkodran Mustafi's first goal for Arsenal.

Arsenal had been forced to play the last 25 minutes with 10 men after Granit Xhaka was shown a straight red card for a reckless lunge on Steven Defour.

But the Gunners refused to be denied and Sanchez converted from the spot with virtually the last kick of an incredible finish at the Emirates Stadium to ensure his team leapfrogged Tottenham and Liverpool in the title chase.

The north Londoners have now won four of their last five league games and remain in touch with leader Chelsea ahead of their summit meeting at Stamford Bridge on Feb. 4.

At the start of the season Wenger challenged his players to dominate against the league's middle classes after dropping too many points against supposedly inferior opponents in recent years.

This was exactly the kind of gritty response he had hoped for.

Early on Mesut Ozil weaved his way into a shooting position on the edge of the area, only to see Burnley goalkeeper Tom Heaton push away his low strike.

Alex Iwobi was next to threaten as the young winger drove his shot just wide after a typically incisive Arsenal raid.

Burnley tried to hit back, with a powerful Ashley Barnes effort forcing Petr Cech into a fine save.

Perhaps inspired by the Arsenal fans who had unveiled a banner featuring a picture of the forward with his two pet dogs, Sanchez was hounding the Burnley defence, but he couldn't find a way past Heaton, who dived to his right to block the forward's long-range effort.

When Sanchez sized up another chance 12 yards out, he found Burnley was defending so deep that six blue-shirted players stood between him and the goal, an obstacle even the Chilean dynamo couldn't overcome with a shot that curled wide.