On Saturday afternoon, Arsenal conceded a defeat which could prove costly in the race for the English title. At home, Mikel Arteta’s group were surprised to lose 1-2 against AFC Bournemouth, thirteenth in the standings. The gap between Arsenal, leader of the Premier League, and Manchester City, second, is now nine points, even if the Citizens still have two games in hand, the first of which will be played on Sunday at Chelsea.
The Gunners already had to cope without the Dutch Jurriën Timber and Justin Kluivert, both injured, as well as without Bukayo Saka and Martin Ødegaard, also in the infirmary. Myles Lewis-Skelly took the opportunity to return to the starting XI in the Premier League for the first time since the end of December.
During a lackluster first half, the first real chance, which came after just over a quarter of an hour, immediately resulted in the first goal. A cross from Adrien Truffert, left alone, was deflected by William Saliba, allowing Eli Junior Kroupi to push the ball into the back of the net at the far post: 0-1.
The Gunners, in difficulty, only created one notable opportunity: a header from Kai Havertz, from Declan Rice’s corner, which grazed the crossbar. For a long period, the locals failed to appear truly dangerous.
After more than half an hour, the perfect opportunity to equalize finally presented itself: on an Arsenal corner, Ryan Christie committed a handball, offering a penalty which Viktor Gyökeres transformed without trembling (1-1).
Even this goal was not enough to revive Arsenal, while Bournemouth appeared threatening through Evanilson and Alex Scott. Shortly after the break, Arteta brought on three substitutes at once: Eberechi Eze, Leandro Trossard and Max Dowman.
In the following highlight, Arsenal finally appeared a little more threatening. Declan Rice’s shot skimmed the top corner after being deflected by Djordje Petrovic, then a Gyökeres goal was disallowed for offside. Bournemouth then sensed the possible blow and, thanks to Scott – who recovered the ball in front of his feet with a bit of luck – took a 2-1 advantage with a quarter of an hour to go.
The Gunners then threw all their strength into the battle to equalize, or even win, but their efforts were hampered by the unsuccessful attempts of Gyökeres and substitute Gabriel Jesus. To top it off, the Swede received a yellow card meaning suspension for the decisive clash against Manchester City next week.
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