Arsenal secured a dramatic 3 2 victory over Bournemouth this evening to remain at the top of the Premier League table, opening up a six-point gap over their nearest rivals. The result marked another moment of redemption for Mikel Arteta’s side, who have made a habit this season of overcoming opponents that caused them problems in the previous campaign.
Following their win against Aston Villa, Arsenal were keen to prove that performance was no accident. Arteta selected a strong starting eleven, signalling clear intent from the outset. The Gunners dominated the early stages, but despite their control, it was Bournemouth who struck first.
Arsenal Respond After Early Shock
Against the run of play, Evanilson punished poor defending to give the Cherries the lead after just ten minutes. The goal stunned Arsenal briefly, but it also served as the catalyst for a swift response. Six minutes later, Gabriel restored parity, finishing confidently as Arsenal resumed control of the match.
From that point on, the visitors dictated proceedings, moving the ball with purpose and pressing aggressively in search of another breakthrough. With title ambitions firmly in mind, Arsenal knew that winning matches consistently is essential, and their determination was evident throughout the contest.
Late Drama and Composed Finish
The decisive moment arrived after the break when Declan Rice put Arsenal ahead, giving them deserved reward for their sustained pressure. However, a 2 1 lead against an attacking Bournemouth side was never likely to be comfortable. Aware of the danger, Arsenal pushed on, and Rice struck again to make it 3 1, seemingly placing the game under control.
Bournemouth refused to relent and responded through Junior Kroupi, reducing the deficit and setting up a tense final 14 minutes. During that spell, the home side threatened an equaliser, forcing Arsenal into a more cautious approach.
As fatigue began to show, Arsenal opted for control rather than risk. Their game management proved exemplary as they slowed the tempo and closed down space effectively. The final whistle confirmed a vital 3 2 win, allowing Arsenal to maintain their advantage at the summit and reinforce their credentials as genuine title contenders.
That was tense! But let’s not forget it’s a tough place to go and they did the double over us last season.
We won, I’m happy. And I don’t want to hear Don Goodman commentating on our game again!
Now for the darts….
They only lost 1 home game all season before us.
Excellent result then, Ackshay 👌
Yes Sue, no small teams in this league. Wolves nearly got us at home.
Wolves also almost got Pool and got United so agree wholeheartedly
A well deserved win though it was a tough one.
Beat Liverpool in our next game will be a huge statement, win our next 3 EPL games (Liverpool,Forest,ManU) and that will start to put real pressure on everyone else and show our mentality.
Need to start playing Norgaard IMO, we also need to strengthen at DM
It’s a good time to play Liverpool and Man Utd – I think
Liverpool and Manu do have some world class players, even though team performances could be better they are still dangerous opponents for getting goals and taking points off us.
It’s a bit strange, so many managers at big clubs could follow maresker into unemployment at any moment, Amorim should already be gone, surely Slot is just couple more bad results back to back away from sack, Howe has taken Toon as far as he can, spuds manager has lost dressing room and fans, and pep announcing his leaving at end of season wouldn’t come as a shock. Owners and their lackeys are doing it as they are thinking of strong start to new season in August begins now.
We’ve got Norgaard and Zubimendi for DM, why do you see a problem PJ-SA? I thought Zubi played well yesterday without making many, if any forward passes, but he does hold things together in front of the back four.
He passed directly to the opposition in dangerous areas 3 times in the first half. He just doesn’t seem to handle pressure well, which is a key attribute for a DM. He also doesn’t appear to read a game well either, rarely make vital interceptions.
He doesn’t plug the gap infront of the back 4 either. Watch the 2nd Bournemouth goal, he’s literally marking Gabriels man unnecessarily and not reading the game at all. He should be pushing into the gap to block the attack, most good DMs would’ve read that scenario all day long and get much closer.
DM is such a vital position, I just personally think he’s average at tackling and cant read danger. He’s a decent player when we have high possession and aren’t under pressure, but that’s not a measure of a top player. As you say, his passing is generally of a negative manner too.
Norgaard is better in the air, a better tackler and certainly reads the game better without a doubt but I don’t see him getting the chance he should in the team.
Just wondering why then that Rice came out after the game praising Zubimendi for his defensive skills making it easy for him to make his forward runs and score two goals. You do make some good points though.
Some of the analyses of Zubimendi are really poor and unbalanced. Zubimendi is still amongst the best all round defensive midfielders in the PL. He has certain weaknesses but these are being highlighted unnecessarily.
The criticisms of his tackling and reading of the game demonstrate a lack of understanding of football in general and the PL in particular. There is no way a defensive midfielder in one of the best teams in the world, especially given the way Arsenal play, can be as limited as sometimes described by certain fans.
There are physically stronger and better tacklers than Zubi but his reading of the game and timing are amongst the reasons he usually does not need to tackle as much as some other defensive midfielders.
Yes, he has made mistakes but which MF hasn’t?
Bournemouth play one of the most aggressive pressing games anywhere so marking players down just on that game is really silly. Bournemouth play in a similar way against everyone and whilst their results haven’t been impressive recently you need to watch their games to understand that they are usually difficult to play against. A recent game that is instructive is their game away to Chelsea which ended in a draw.
Zubi had a difficult first half but his play improved over the course of the game and he was one of Arsenal’s better players as the game progressed.
Rice clearly has a better understanding of football than the moaners and critics on JA.
😂
David,
What is it with you and people making valid comments and highlighting a players short comings.
You said it yourself, he has certain weaknesses. You then go on to say these weaknesses are being highlighted unnecessarily.
This is why a lot of poster’s have trouble taking you’re views seriously. If said player has weaknesses, why shouldn’t it be mentioned.
You say the criticisms of his tackling and and reading of the game demonstrates a lack of understanding of football in general and the PL in particular.
What a load of hogwash. It’s just yet another example of you having a problem asking valid questions of said footballer’s ability. You are exactly the same when it comes to anyone daring to ask a question of Arteta’s management.
Just because poster’s are asking perfectly valid questions, doesn’t mean they are attacking the Manager or said player.
And just because you don’t agree with them, you come out with you’re usual quote of them not understanding football.
Maybe the one that doesn’t understand football is you.
The claim is now that Norgaard needs to come in and replace Zubimendi based on what you have described as “valid criticisms”. Have you reached the same conclusion? Do you also agree with the view that Zubimendi is not a top player?
David,
I’m not saying that Zubimendi is not a good player. I just highlighted that he seems to be more vulnerable away from home. And if we’re under the cosh he struggles.
The problem with you David, is you seem to think that if anyone dares question the manager or said player they’re attacking them. It’s not the case.
Players have their strengths and weaknesses, and any fan outing a weakness is perfectly entitled to voice it. The fact you don’t necessarily agree with it, doesn’t mean in you’re words, that they lack an understanding of football. Which seems to be one of you’re favorite sayings.
I wasn’t even discussing with you. You were defending those who say Zubimendi is not a top player and that Norgaard is clearly better. Those people are now claiming that Norgaard should replace Zubimendi. Do you agree with them or not?
Now you are saying something different. What you are claiming is also questionable as you have not given a balanced assessment of Zubimendi’s performances away from home. Can you give any kind of overview of Zubi’s performances away from home? Apart from “struggles” which does not tell us anything.
All you seem to do is jump on any bandwagon of negativity and claim that any criticism, however unreasonable, is somehow valid.
David,
I wasn’t defending anyone that was claiming that Zubimendi is not a top player. And as for me saying that Norgaard is clearly better, and should replace Zubimendi you’re just making up.
Never once have I ever said that. Try reading my post’s, and stop making up statements that if you bother to read properly, you shouldn’t then fell the need to make things up to suit you’re narrative.
Once again, I was not discussing with you but you jumped on to a thread. In this thread the criticisms and conclusions were quite clear.
To now claim that I have made something up is quite dishonourable of you. I clearly asked whether you agreed with the conclusions that were made by others.
David,
I’m not being dishonorable to you. You say that you wasn’t discussing with me, but you go on to say in you’re post of January 6th at 6-40am, that I was defending those who say that Zubimendi wasn’t a top player.
Which again isn’t true.
Well if you weren’t talking to me, how can you make the claim you’ve made?.
Spot on PJ.
PJ-SA, I cannt understand why experienced, international and EPL proven midfielder like Christian Norgaard is underutilized by Michel Arteta. Zubermendi (first season in EPL) and Rice require rotation to avoid injury and burn out, given the number of competitions Arsenal is competing in.
Kudos to the team. Congratulations to everyone for it’s not easy winning there and Arsenal’s resilience is quite commendable, substitutions made at the right time.
Magalhaes must thank Madueke for creating an easy scoring chance
Gyokeres was finally able to outmuscle a CB and made Odegaard able to assist Rice
Rice was my MOTM for his two goals and defensive contributions
If Chelsea can hold Man City tomorrow, we can maintain the six-point lead
Gyö did well for the second goal. Got 2 defenders glued to him, which opened space for Rice. I expect minimum of this from him.
That Kroupi kid looks promising, already has outscored our forwards in the PL.
The target man of an EPL contender should be able to at least outmuscle or outjump the huge EPL CBs consistently
Gyokeres’ aerial ability isn’t good, but he must be able to hold big CBs off as he did today
As for Kroupi, he seems to have good technical skills, but I don’t think he’s technical and strong enough to be our main CF. I’d prefer Arsenal to gamble on Aghehowa, who’d be useful in set-pieces
GAI, your constant negativity on Gyokeres is like a broken record.
You do not give any credit for his good play, like giving space to others by occupying attention of defenders. Statistically Arsenal creates more scoring opportunities when Gyokeres plays, even if he is not scoring himself.
I liked the look of Kroupi too DaJuhi, but was more impressed with Mané of Wolves yesterday, he’s someone I hope we are looking at.
@Gai I don’t see this Chelsea who have been inconsistent able to hold City. Except they want to impress the interim coach. Win at Bournemouth is a good one for Arsenal, they have been difficult to beat at home.
I hope Chelsea can defend well or score against Man City with counterattacks, since they’ve got very good defenders and attackers to do so
Maresca’s tactics were too offensive to do that, but I think the interim coach will be more pragmatic
Granted, a tricky place to go Bournemouth wring every bit of performance out of average players and play above their station. We lost twice to them last season, so a lot better this. Very surprised we didn’t see Norgard again, Arteta must not trust him, which is strange but only an observation. For obvious reasons Rice was MOM and was a constant architect of us going forwards. The big disappointment for me was Martinelli. I expected fireworks,especially the way Bournemouth play but nothing of the sort. Hindcapie is finding the prem hard and I thought he struggled a little but in a bitty game everyone worked hard for the win.
Odegaard is back in form and that in itself gets us up another level. Now if Saka returns to his devastating peak form, we are cooking.
👍 Ackshay, Odegaard is finally getting back to full match fitness. The last two games his vision and decision making have been outstanding.
Hard fought win, Couldn’t ask for more at such venue. Unto Liverpool next. COYG!
It’s been a while I here from you @Vamos…. I believe you’re enjoying the season.
Yeah sure! Hopefully we get over the line in all competitions this time.
3 points in a tricky game. That’s great.
Now unto the next one.
Liverpool will be a very tough test. A win against them at home will send another very strong statement out to the world that we seriously want to win this league.
Many people here predicted 2-0 win. I didn’t get it. This Bournemouth team is always attacking…
Anteneh,
Yeah you’re right whatever number of goals they somehow concede, Bournemouth have quality strikers who can score from nowhere as we recently saw v Utd which ended 4-4. This is why I posted praising the perfect prediction of Dan who went for 3-2 Arsenal win.
5 days rest. Soak it up as the stakes will get higher after:
8th Pool H
11th Porthsmouth A (FA Cup)
14th Chelsea A (Carabao)
17th Nottingham A
20th Inter A
25th Man United H
If we can beat Liverpool then our main layers have potentially 9 days till next PL game so a lot of rotation to save energy before we go again
We should get that kroupi guy
I feel nobody in the Chelsea club expects anything from tomorrow’s game – neither players, nor board, not staff
Manager has just been sacked,
No new management yet
What exactly will the players be fighting for – you need a fight to get something off Man City
– No new Manager to please yet
– Board will not be expecting a result as focus will be on sorting administrative issues
I feel it would be an easy win for Man City
Babasola,
I also feel like you do. I fear City may capitalise on this power vacuum to score lots of goals. I even wished for Arsenal to play Chelsea that Carabao Cup SF next week before a new one is appointed.
I feel like we probably don’t know what reaction to expect. Sometimes wounded animal don’t do the guessable things just come out swingin wildly, and that can be all a bit dangerous for both sides.
Tough game ,could have gone either way .
Luckily it went ours .
We move on ,Onto the next
The win looked hard fought because we allowed it. We shouldn’t have conceded that second goal let alone the first, no one was marking kuopi , the tight 1v1 marking in the midfield disappeared at that very moment and kudos to the lad for utilising the space. Gabriel has a top tier Mentality not every defender makes an error that leads to a goal and go ahead with the determination to amend for his error, A world class player he is and our king in Brazil. Rice was MOTM he was defending, striking, playing RB LB LM ACM , he was everywhere full of energy. That rest did him a lot of good.
I said it here that for us to win we had to score a 3 goals cos we do not concede more than 2, and It was pleasant to see that even after Bournemouth got their second goal the arsenal players didn’t panic , they didn’t go all out defence, infact they controlled the game better after that goal.
Solid win solid performance except for the few occasions Zubimendi tried to sabotage the team by giving misplaced passes and holding unto the ball for too long to allow the Bournemouth players close him down and nick the ball of him. He should have been subbed with Norgaard replacing him.
Forward and upward.
Big ups to Dan who predicted the scores right. 👍
Kklin,
Yes of all the scores to go for 2-3 is unthinkable really. Hats off to Dan.
Bournemouth have an excellent home record
I agree with Reggie in an earlier post that Iraola has worked hard with players that are not household names. As Arteta puts it; small margins and the better team won through in a hard fought game.
Rice really is a class act. Doesn’t have an overriding ego and Arsenal are lucky to have him. On today’s performance I thought Martinelli could have done better and in our half some of the midfield and defensive work was iffy. My head was in my hands after the Gabriel mistake but he has the strength of character and made amends. Another leader in our team along side Odegaard and Rice
Just because we lead the league, it doesn’t mean that every match is going to be a pushover.
The euphoria surrounding our much vaunted centre backs was challenged by their sub par performances today , set off by the horrendous error by Gabriel for the first Bournemouth goal.He may have redeemed himself by scoring shortly thereafter, but throughout the game both he and Saliba seemed strangely uneasy to me and as a consequence our build up from the back was painfully slow.The energetic Bournemouth midfielders made life difficult for Odegaard and Zubimendi but fortunately both our right wingers caused havoc and the irrepressible Rice was once again our matchwinner.In the final analysis, any win at Bournemouth is a commendable result but i suspect the imminent departure of Semeneo may weaken the fortress on the South coast.
You’ve hit the nail on the head there Grandad 👏
EA, late goals being conceded by Arsenal are a concern. 3-1 lead late in game, is comfortable. 3-2 is “squeaky bum” time.
👍 Grandad, the “impenetrable wall” of Arsenal at the back, is showing some cracks.
It took some time for the midfield to find their feet but once they did the team did a good job. Gyokeres better than his usual displays today. If he’s not getting on the end of things at least he affected play and made a difference. Madueke very adventurous and helped get he equalizer. And all 3 of our midfielders turned on the show and got us some great goals. The shot outside the box was a great effort and seems we just lost concentration for a moment and gave them a massive space to shoot into. This was Bournemouths 2nd loss at home all season so this was always a slight banana peel of a fixture but we got through it. Now finally the team gets 5 days rest!
Despite rotating the team, the master Arteta is unhampered to collecting the most vital 3 points. Tonight it seems Arteta had one eye on Liverpool tie which virtually will be between Defending Champions and Champions Elect.
Very happy
Tough away match and we prevailed
Hopefully Chelsea can do us a favour
And on we march…
Can’t believe I’m saying this, but congratulations on winning the league. We will survive a year of Saka > Messi
In recent weeks the manner of Arsenal wins is even more heartbreaking for those who want Arsenal drop points. These people wait to see Arsenal’s games even until midnight but they miserably go to sleep bare handed after they saw some false dawns.
Great win and a massive three points. Some sloppiness in possession especially first half. Odegaard is turning into form and Rice is just unbelievable! Liverpool next and the stage is perfectly set. The boys will be bumped for this one I believe
Agree Amberchew, it must really be galling our haters to see Arsenal get out of jail again and again. Probably a bit like us last season, sweating on Liverpool to drop points.
Yes you’re right probably we were not so diligent as they are now. I for myself didn’t stay awake until midnight to see the Liverpool games.
The most important thing here is the 3 points which we got. Gabriel mistake shows that he is human. What matters is how you responded to it. Gyo did well just as other players on the pitch. Arteta did well by rotating some players. But he should trust all his players by giving them minutes. What is going on with Eze, Norgaad and Nwaneri? I don’t want to believe that Eze and Norgaad were bought for FA and Carabao cups. The coach should manage game minutes well among his players. We don’t need fatigue, injury and rustiness from players at this time of the season.
Congratulations to all of us. On to the next
The team seems to be scoring more goals again and the performances in the second halves are getting better. The opposition seem to be getting an edge in the last 10 minutes of the game, Sunderland, Villa(twice), Wolves all got late goals due to dropping intensity in the last 10 minutes.
The Cherries has a recent history of serving up a real classic, the one at the Emirates probably gone down as one of the best classic of all time.
Maybe admin should do an article, on best classic
But maybe this could be the year when we finally wrestlers away that big ears mug, the last time we ran three consecutive seconds, we won the championship immediately after, if my memory is correct
Gunsmoke, Bournemouth are a better team than their current league position indicates. Don’t be surprised if they start moving up the table.
Ozziegunner, they seems to have a good coach at the helm as well
👍
Really good win, especially after gifting them a goal start, but our passing was a bit off all game. Madueke was particularly impressive when given the ball but Rice was head and shoulders above everyone on the pitch. Also, Ødegaard continues to impress.
At some point pundits were hot comparing this Arsenal defence to the Terry drilled Chelsea defence that conceded a record 15 goals in the season. At this midpoint of the season Arsenal already have 14 GA. That Mourinho engineered record goes intact.
Not unless we don’t anymore GA for the rest of the season😂😂
I am happy with the very important result! Firstly, because Bournemouth has been a nuisance of late and, secondly, because the pressure is now on City. My concern is that we are scoring more but conceding more as well.
Hincapie not convincing. Kiwior is definitely better. Zubimendi and Gyokeres, I don’t care what anyone says, these two should and must be sold at the end of the season. Our slow and laborious build up is directly as a result of Zubimendi’s relentless back passes. With Gyokeres on the pitch, we are automatically playing with an invisible redcard. Can’t wait for Havertz to come back!
Are you mad?
Zubimendi is quite inconsistent. He plays well today and plays badly tomorrow.
Gyokeres is turning out to be a fraud.
I can’t believe I’m saying this but Havertz might really be needed.
Norgaard should be subbed in for Zubimendi in the final 10 – 15 matches.
What was wrong with Havertz in the first place?
Havertz misses 7 chances then maybe score 3.
Havertz is not clinical enough. But his passes and hold up play are pretty good, slightly above average.
I can’t even say these about Gyokeres so far. Hence why I say Havertz might be needed for this 2nd part of the season.
I believe he is not fully match fit yet but in 2 weeks time he should be 70% ready to play a match for some minutes.
SJ, a striker who scores 3 out of 7 is usually a quite highly regarded one. A football team that scores 3 out of seven usually wins the game.
Then in that case Havertz scores 1 in 10 chances.
Yeah, that would definitely make him crap
For me this game was more about the result than the performance. Bournemouth are a tricky side, and have some lively attackers. Today wasn’t one of our teams better defensive displays, but they got the job done.
What Gabriel was thinking only he knows, but to be fair to him he made amends. Rice scoring two well taken goals and two good assists from Odegaard, with the second Rice goal, the ball from Odegaard to Saka was top notch play.
Conceding that late goal then had us a little nervy, but as I said at the beginning of my post, the result was the most important thing regards this game.
Although that can be said of all games I suppose. Anyway, good result boys. Onto you’re next test.👍
DEREK, nice summary I hope to see your article shortly on JA as Ken did recently.
Ambachew,
I appreciate you’re kind words. Regarding me writing any articles for JA, I won’t go that far. I just send in my thoughts via JA.
I’ll leave the Article writing to the far better contributors by the likes of Dan and Ken1945 amongst a few others.👍
I must express my appreciation for Dan’s apt predictions in the previous two matches. I must confess that I have had some misgivings about Dan’s open criticism of our team and the manager, but I have had to reexamine my attitude towards him lately. I hope he continues to be a positive critic. His near perfect predictions have surpassed many of the established pundits’ predictions in the major media houses. Keep it up.
100% agree with you David Rusa.
Arsenal have conceding goals since odegaard return is that a coincidence
What a goal by Reed for the Fulham equalizer against Liverpool! Already Goal of the Season. Period mates. Mind Rice Liverpool leave that area free for you to strike ranger as Reed did.
I’m worried about City, not gonna lie. 😟
Nothing to worry about, they drew again
Man City draw! Over the half way point now, fully in our hands now to make sure of it this season.
Up to us to make sure conditioning of the squad is right and well rotated, time to show we have the mentality to win it!
Thank you Chelsea, any help we get is well received.
One game at a time and one competition at a time. Remember the mantra. 👍
Did say City would drop points over this period
Yeah Dan you did say that in reply to readers’ comments. Why then your prediction read City 1-0 Chelsea?
@Dan, I thought you predicted/betted Arsenal not doing well under pressure and City thriving under pressure? I know its still a long way in the race, but City played 2 or 3 games before Arsenal and Arsenal won. Then recently Arsenal have played 2 games before City and City are showing cracks under pressure, now you tell me who’s tumbling under pressure ?
Oyama,
Nothing what you said was untrue.
Nice one Chelsea! You never know what can happen when managers go. Some players magically come back to life. 6 points clear in January. Long ways to go but hard to ask for a better position
I think at the end of January City will have a 4 match run of:
United A
Wolves H
Spurs A
Pool A
Cant see them getting 12/12 from that so lets just keep the focus, on at a time. We are our worst enemy.
Yup, they have tons of injuries as well especially in defense where they are weakest. All about us navigating this month and playing to our potential. We can’t bottle this one, c’mon Arsenal!
Arsenal better not mess this lead up again.
It took 3 games against Sunderland, Chelsea and Aston Villa for us to drop 7 points in one month.
A win against Liverpool on Thursday and it will send fear to the other teams that we mean business this time.
Injuries should set us free and there shouldn’t be careless mistakes from the players.
Hopefully this is our year.
Even the only home tie v Wolves is tough as they have suddenly become unbeatable. I gave them 7/12. Uplifting tips to Gooners.
a good weekend for AFC, despite a difficult game, but we hung on. After watching games this round I am
off the opinion that JP Mateta would be an asset to us !!
The focus should be now Liverpool, given our current position six points on top of the pile, and the champion ongoing struggles with integrating their numerous new players, Arsenal is currently better equipped to handle what is shaping up to be an encounter of classic proportion
We have to be given the edge this time around, to take all the spoils
The man we need……Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
Arsenal is in a strong position after all the recent results. Reading the commentary here can be depressing …..some of it is very negative. Remember , WHEN Arsenal claim the title next May , it will have been a SQUAD effort. Arteta has to keep in mind so much when picking the team to play (minutes to players , player confidence , player form etc ) , but wins in every PL game is a must. Assuming Jesus is match fit , he has to get the nod before and underperforming Gyokeres on Thursday.