Key events
A damning statistic courtesy of Sky Sports: of all the Premier League goals Arsenal have conceded this season, 48 percent of them have come from set pieces and corners. That’s the highest this season, with only Wolves (44 percent) coming anywhere close. The average in the league is 26 percent.
That’s a huge result for Bournemouth, and quite the response to being denied at the death last weekend by Manchester United. The Cherries move into eighth spot, which if the season ended today, would be enough for a spot in the European Conference League next season … providing Manchester City win the FA Cup final, that is. Arsenal meanwhile are suddenly looking over their shoulder, second place far from secure, with in-form Manchester City on the charge, and tricky matches at Liverpool and against Newcastle still to come.
Andoni Iraola and Mikel Arteta, boyhood Basque pals, embrace as the whistle goes. One man much happier than the other. That’s a thoroughly deserved victory for Bournemouth, who on the balance of play were arguably unlucky to trail at the end of the first half, and turned things around confidently in the second. It’s a historic victory at the home of Arsenal, who go into the second leg of their Champions League semi-final under a cloud. Their opponents PSG lost today as well – 2-1 at Strasbourg – but unlike Arsenal, they’ve won their league title, and rested nearly all of their big names today. Iraola hops around with joy in front of the Bournemouth fans; Arteta disappears down the tunnel with furrowed brow.
FULL TIME: Arsenal 1-2 Bournemouth
Bournemouth’s hopes of European football are real. They complete their first-ever league double over Arsenal!
90 min +6: Partey tries to burst past Semenyo on the right. He goes over on the edge of the box and claims a penalty, but it was a fair shoulder barge, and the ball sails out for a goal kick. That should be that.
90 min +5: Kerkez wins the ball out on the left and passes to Semenyo. The full back wants a return pass, and he’s in space on the underlap, but Semenyo plays it cool, turning back and running down some clock.
90 min +4: Raya hoicks long, straight out of play for a goal kick. There goes that rare period of sustained Arsenal pressure.
90 min +3: … Odegaard blasts witlessly into the wall. But Arsenal come again, Sterling twisting down the left and cutting back for Odegaard, whose first-time shot is blocked immediately by Scott.
90 min +2: An Arsenal committee of Odegaard, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Sterling and Nwaneri discuss their options. And then …
90 min +1: Odegaard spins into space down the middle and draws a foul from Scott, who clumsily shoves him from behind. A free kick in a dangerous central position, just outside the D.
90 min: Bournemouth are six additional minutes away from completing their first-ever league double over Arsenal.
89 min: Nwaneri jinks down the inside-right channel and into the box, but can’t get past Kerkez and concedes a free kick. Pressure off.
87 min: Bournemouth make a change of their own, replacing the potential match-winner Evanilson with Jebbison.
86 min: Arsenal make a triple change, replacing Saka, Martinelli and White with Nwaneri, Sterling and Zinchenko.
85 min: Arsenal probe. Bournemouth push them slowly back up the field. The home fans groan. Their team on the verge of dropping more points from a winning position. Second place not locked down yet. Far from it.
83 min: Arsenal haven’t responded to falling behind at all. In fact, it’s Bournemouth who look the more likely right now. Brooks strips the ball off Merino, 30 yards out, but can’t find the killer pass to release Evanilson. Arsenal breathe again.
81 min: Bournemouth knock the ball around the back to a chorus of olés from the away end. Hey, we’ve got two Spanish managers here, why not.
79 min: That eight-minute double whammy has sucked all of the air out of the Emirates. You can hear the Bournemouth fans, to be fair. Meanwhile Kachilapo Mulongoti would like to make a persuasive defence of Mikel Arteta and his touchline antics: “I’m writing regarding the amount of emotional energy Arteta and other coaches use up on complaining about every incident. I think they view it as necessary for success, Arteta and other coaches like him feel that the best version of themselves is essentially a 12th player on the pitch. They have to be completely engaged with what is happening on the pitch because it maximizes their chances of success. Believe them when they say every detail matters, they truly believe it does.”
78 min: The goal stands! It’s not clear and obvious that the ball hit Evanilson on the arm. On Sky, former Arsenal striker Alan Smith gives his verdict: “Do you know what, I think that’s fair enough, there’s no conclusive evidence.”
77 min: This might have pinged off Evanilson’s elbow. If so, Arsenal are off the hook.
76 min: … but VAR will have a look at a possible handball by Evanilson and an offside. Cue some Stockley Park rock-and-roll.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-2 Bournemouth (Evanilson 75)
The corner’s sent in from the left. Tavernier flicks it on to the far stick, where Evanilson, falling backwards, wins a tussle with Odegaard and forces the ball through Raya and in!
74 min: While Ouattara is being seen to, Rice is replaced by Merino. Then Ouattara makes way for Brooks. And then the corner …
73 min: Now it’s Ouattara’s turn to cross from the left. Tavernier takes up possession and shoots. Deflected. Over. Before the corner can be taken, Ouattara goes down and requires treatment.
71 min: Bournemouth are suddenly first to everything. Kerkez crosses from the left but Saliba eyebrows clear just in time.
69 min: That was Bournemouth’s first attempt on target. And now look. Arsenal are a bit shocked by that. Shell-shocked, in fact, when you consider the aquatic theme on Bournemouth’s shirt.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-1 Bournemouth (Huijsen 67)
From the resulting throw, Semenyo launches long. His throw finds the head of Huijsen, who directs a simple header towards the top left. It loops over Raya and in. Easy as that! What an instant impact Semenyo has made!
66 min: Semenyo’s very first touch takes him into acres down the right. He’s got space to run into, and options in the middle, but takes a heavy touch upon entering the box, allowing Saliba to come across and block-clear. But it doesn’t make much difference, because …
65 min: Bournemouth make a double change, replacing Kluivert and Araujo with Semenyo and Scott. That will see Cook moving to right back.
64 min: Ouattara is booked for a cynical tug on White, who had just nicked the ball off him.
62 min: Partey dallies on the ball and is dispossessed by Cook. Arsenal are pushed back, but let off when Kluivert flays a wild shot over the bar from distance.
61 min: Odegaard has the opportunity to shoot from the edge of the Bournemouth D, but decides against it and eventually gets stripped of possession. A few groans from the home faithful.
60 min: Arsenal are beginning to look a bit skittish. Saliba takes a poor touch that nearly allows Evanilson to race off down the left with the ball. The defender recovers just in time.
58 min: Yet another awful pass by Raya, straight up the middle, is nearly intercepted by Kluivert. Then Ouattara comes bombing down the left. His low curler nearly finds Kluivert in the middle. Raya comes to claim, and this time his efforts to progress the ball quickly are stopped unfairly by Evanilson, who goes into the book.
56 min: Saka nearly scores a peach, probing down the left and cutting back to see off Adams, before sending a curler across Kepa and inches wide of the top-right corner. That would have been lovely.
55 min: Trossard battles hard down the left and appears to be hauled down by Araujo, but doesn’t get the free kick his efforts deserve. The referee has been a bit too laissez-faire since the restart. Fair’s fair, perhaps Mikel had a point.
54 min: Some head tennis in the Bournemouth box. Kepa eventually claims another weak Saka effort.
53 min: The corner comes to nothing. But there’s a nice, open feel to this game, with both sides going for it in attack.
52 min: Saka and Trossard combine crisply down the inside-right channel. Saka runs into Huijsen and claims a penalty, but he’ll have to make do with a corner that he’ll take himself.
51 min: Tavernier jigs right to left across the face of the Arsenal box. Trossard appears to drag him down, but the referee waves play on. Tavernier beyond livid.
49 min: Chances at both ends in quick succession. Martinelli dinks a cross in from the left for Saka, whose header is weak and easily cleared. Then Kerkez whistles a low ball in from the left, Tavernier unable to extend a leg to guide home at the far post.
47 min: Arteta would probably be better served ranting at his own keeper, as Raya plays another dismal pass out to Odegaard, putting his captain in all sorts of trouble again. He’s fortunate Bournemouth are unable to take advantage.
46 min: Mikel Arteta is convinced Arsenal should be awarded a garden-variety free kick in midfield. He’s right on the touchline, having his say, fully animated. You have to wonder about the amount of emotional energy he uses up on inconsequential stuff like this. It must be tiring.
Arsenal get the second half started. No changes. “By rights, and by anything like a reasonable conversion of their exceptionally good chances, Bournemouth should have been at least a couple of goals up at the end of the first half,” suggests Gunners supporter Charles Antaki. “But they’re not. Arsenal are living a few millimetres away from a world of counterfactuals.”
Half-time advertising break.
HALF TIME: Arsenal 1-0 Bournemouth
Arsenal edging a close match.
45 min +2: Evanilson bombs down the middle and has Ouattara to his right, and Kerkez to his left. He opts for the latter. He should play Kerkez into the box, but sends the full-back far too wide, and the chance is gone. Bournemouth have responded well to falling behind.
45 min +1: In the first of two additional minutes, Kluivert swings in from the left. Raya claims under not much pressure.
45 min: Raya plays a dreadful pass out to Odegaard, and it’s immediately intercepted by Ouattara, who plays it back upfield to Evanilson. The striker turns and attempts to replicate Jean-Philippe Mateta’s chip of a couple of weeks ago. Had he got it on target, it was the Crystal Palace fiasco all over again. But it floats over the bar. Raya has the good grace to look a little embarrassed.
43 min: White half-clears the corner. Cook curls the ball back in from the right. Evanilson loops a header over the bar. That had Raya scuttling back in the unsure style. The flag pops up for offside anyway, though had it gone in, VAR might have had something to say about that.
42 min: Cook takes. Kiwior clears. But Bournemouth come back at Arsenal, Kluivert zipping down the left before sashaying infield. He aims a curler towards the top right that’s deflected wide by Saliba. Corner coming in from the right.
40 min: Tavernier dribbles down the right and draws a foul from Partey. A free kick and a chance for Bournemouth to line up on the edge of the Arsenal box.
38 min: But this isn’t over. Not yet. Arsenal have dropped 18 points from winning positions this season. Only six teams have a worse record in the Premier League.
36 min: That was a wonderful finish. This is Rice’s 100th appearance for Arsenal, so what a way to celebrate the landmark! He takes a theatrical bow as the home fans record the scoreline via the medium of the Village People.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Bournemouth (Rice 34)
Arsenal go up the other end and take the lead! Odegaard glides in from the right before rolling a pass down the channel for Rice, who rounds Kepa to the right before looping a shot into the net. Zabarnyi can’t block on the line.
33 min: Tavernier slides a pass down the inside-right channel for Ouattara, who for a second looks like getting clear in the box. But just as the attacker prepares to shoot, Saliba comes sliding in to take the ball off his toe. That was timed to perfection. Had it not been, it’d have been a nailed-on penalty. But what a tackle!
31 min: Martinelli twists his way past Araujo down the left, reaches the byline, and clips back for Trossard, who aims a header towards the bottom right. Kepa gets down and stops on his line. A goalkeeper put to work at last!
