Arsenal 1-2 Bournemouth: 4 Talking Points As Gunners Fall Again At Emirates

Arsenal slumped to a bitterly disappointing 2-1 defeat at home to Bournemouth on Saturday evening.

Mikel Arteta declined the chance to rest his big names but thought his risk had paid off when Declan Rice put Arsenal ahead midway through the first half. But two set-piece goals after the break from Dean Huijsen and Evanilson saw them slump to a miserable defeat, sending the home supporters away with a headache they won’t have seen coming.

How the game unfolded
With Arsenal’s Premier League dream put to bed last weekend, there was a noticeable number of empty seats around the Emirates Stadium, with absent Gunners fans perhaps more interested in a trip to Paris Saint-Germain for the Champions League semi-final second leg in midweek.

Bournemouth saw some early success down the wings but the first real sight of goal fell to Rice 15 minutes in. The midfielder drifted in behind but could only lash his strike across Kepa Arrizabalaga’s goal and out of play.

Rice saw another half-chance soon after and proved to be his side’s greatest attacking threat in the first half, later crashing towards the goal-line to force Illia Zabarnyi into an awkward, yet impressive, clearance.

Evanilson should have put Bournemouth ahead after 25 minutes. Milos Kerkez’s box found the Brazilian alone in the middle of the penalty area, but he could not control his header and sent the ball flying over David Raya’s bar with Bournemouth’s first touch of the ball inside Arsenal’s box.

Gabriel Martinelli was next to drag wide, before Kepa got down well to catch Leandro Trossard’s header on the line – the first shot on target of the game. It was not long after, however, that Rice finally marked his 100th appearance for the club by rounding Kepa and powering home in the 34th minute.

Arsenal pushed for a second goal to begin the second half, with Bukayo Saka significantly more involved in proceedings. The winger fizzed wide ten minutes after the restart, and that miss was punished when Huijsen tied things up soon after.

The in-demand Spaniard, who was born in the Netherlands, rose highest from a monstrous long throw and nodded cooly past Raya with what was Bournemouth’s first shot on target.

Less than ten minutes later and Bournemouth were celebrating a second goal from a set piece. A whipped corner found its way through to Evanilson at the back post, and his scrappy effort squirmed beyond Raya and into the back of the net.

Arsenal offered almost nothing in response, with Bournemouth comfortably seeing out the game to inflict a first home defeat on the Gunners in a game which they were leading at half-time in over three years.

Arteta goes strong despite looming PSG threat

Needing to overturn a 1-0 deficit in Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Paris Saint-Germain, many expected manager Mikel Arteta to rest most of his big names and take the risk of losing here.

Rice marks his century in style

Mikel Merino stole the headlines as a stand-in striker earlier this season, but Rice did his best to ensure he gets the nod up top next time out.

The midfielder played a Jude Bellingham-esque role which saw him given the freedom to fly forwards and get into the box, with Leandro Trossard’s rotation freeing up the space needed for the tactical tweak work. On his 100th appearance for Arsenal, he could have easily had two or three goals in a dominant first-half showing.

Set-piece woes haunt Arsenal again

For all that was made of Arsenal’s ability to score from set pieces during the first half of the season, they have looked equally as inept recently when it comes to defending them.

A long throw and a corner proved to be Arsenal’s downfall here, as has been the case far too often in recent months. There appears to be a lack of organisation for which the Gunners are getting punished.

Bournemouth’s European hopes live on

Having been riding as high as fifth just over two months ago, Bournemouth have done their best to tumble into an all-out scrap for a spot in any European competition next season.

It looked like their hopes of even reaching the Conference League may be fading here – Aston Villa and Manchester City will be two tough opponents in the coming weeks – but a composed comeback has left Bournemouth right on the fringes of the European places.

90min.com