STEVEN Defour felt Burnley proved that their lofty league position was no fluke despite suffering a feeling of deja vu against Arsenal.

The Clarets more than matched their visitors at Turf Moor, dominating the first half but failing to break down the Gunners resistance.

It looked they would be settling for a point until Lee Mason awarded Arsenal an injury-time penalty, gifting Arsene Wenger’s side a third successive controversial added time winner over the Clarets.

“It’s three times now at the end of the game, I’m getting a bit frustrated,” Defour said after suffering yet more Arsenal heartbreak.

“I didn’t see the penalty, I was on the bench, at some point I saw the referee pointing to the penalty spot and I thought ‘not again’.”

The defeat was only Burnley’s third in the Premier League this season and they were unfortunate not to claim at least a point from the game.

While Arsenal came back into it in the second half they still rarely troubled Nick Pope, who had only one save to make before the penalty was awarded and then converted by Alexis Sanchez.

Burnley had gone into the game level on points with Arsenal and a win could have taken them to fourth in the Premier League.

And although they came away with nothing and remain seventh, Belgium midfielder Defour believes his side showed that their strong start to the campaign has been merited.

“They were a bit surprised we played football, but even when they pressed us we stayed calm, we played out and got some combinations,” the 29-year-old said.

“I think we’re proving every game over and over again that we deserve it. I don’t think we’ve stolen any points, they were all deserved.

“It was a bit of a blow because we didn’t deserve to lose.”

Defour felt the Clarets should have pushed home their first half ascendancy and led at the break, but he was still impressed with the performance and Burnley’s ‘calmness’ in possession.

“Apart from the first 10 or 15 minutes of the second half and I felt we were in control. We should have scored in the first half because we were really good in the first half,” he said.

“Second half a bit less because we couldn’t find the last pass, but we played good, we had the calmness, we let the ball do the work and defensively we were really good.”

Sanchez’s late penalty was the first goal Burnley had conceded since their 3-0 defeat at Manchester City on October 21 and they restricted Arsenal well, which Defour felt spoke volumes for their organisation.

“It says a lot about us,” he said. “If you see the firing power of Arsenal and the way they play they usually get a lot more shots on goal. Yesterday they didn’t, but they won anyway.”