Declan Rice’s second-half double played a key role in Arsenal’s 3-2 win over Bournemouth, moving them six points clear at the top of the Premier League, despite a number of dangers on the south coast.
Rice, who missed the win against Aston Villa due to knee swelling, quickly returned to the starting XI and proved his worth to the team by scoring two goals from inside the box.
It was a game the midfielder almost missed as his recovery from knee swelling was in jeopardy. “Until the last moment I asked him, ‘How are you feeling?'” Mikel Arteta recalled. “He said I could be a part of it, and he showed he could be a big part of it.”
However, it was a difficult game for the league leaders to face Andoni Iraola’s side, who scored twice against the Gunners last season, with Paul Merson describing the first half as “one of the worst first halves I’ve ever seen Arsenal play”.
That was also well seen when Gabriel gave Evan Wilson a tap-in through a slack pass across goal just 10 minutes later. The Bournemouth forward had a simple job: roll the ball into an empty net.
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Gabriel’s blunder allows Evanilsson to give Bournemouth the lead.
Arsenal were upset when Justin Kluivert came close to doubling the Cherries’ lead, but Gabriel made up for it six minutes later with an equalizer inside the box from Noni Madueke’s stunning shot.
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Gabriel redeems himself with a powerful equalizer
Bournemouth caused more problems until the half-time break, when Mikel Arteta delivered another solid team talk at half-time. Nine minutes after the restart, Martin Odegaard played a deft pass on the edge of the box to force Rice into goal.
Rice doubled his tally after Odegaard played a smooth ball down the right to substitute Bukayo Saka, with the Arsenal midfielder scoring after a cut from his England teammate.
However, the game was not over for Bournemouth. Substitute Junior Crupi set up a grandstand finish with a curling shot from long range.
The league leaders bounced back from late pressure, but referee Chris Kavanagh controversially blew the final whistle after a long throw was cleared and Bournemouth had good cross position, leading to fury among the home players and fans.
Arsenal’s lead is six on Saturday, but Man City could cut that lead to four if Guardiola’s side defeat a coachless Chelsea on Super Sunday. Bournemouth’s winless record has grown to 11 and they could end up in 16th place by the end of the weekend.
Attention: Rice’s double in the second half!
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Rice leads Arsenal into the lead against Bournemouth
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Rice doubles his score to make it 3-1 for the Gunners.
Arteta praises individuality and presence
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta:
“I really like the next step for our team today in terms of individuality and presence.
“I think what Gabi Magalhães did after he made a big mistake to concede a goal. His reaction to it, the way he played after that, the way he conveyed his energy was amazing.”
“And Declan was one of them too. Every minute was important for him to be able to play today. We didn’t know how much time he was going to get, but for him to compete and play and then score two goals, that was outstanding and I think it was a really big message for the team.”
Analysis: Arsenal show they can get through the gears
Sky Sports’ Sam Blitz at Vitality Stadium:
Arsenal won in a situation where they would have dropped points last season. I feel like that’s been said a lot this season.
This wasn’t a vintage Gunners display, but they got the job done. The wheels almost came off early on as Gabriel gave the lead to bogey team Bournemouth. But two things stand out.
First, Arsenal’s resilience. Gabriel was another example of an Arsenal player bouncing back from a mistake to score, as he raised the bar after a problematic start to equalize. Gabriel did it again against Fulham in 2022 and Saka did it 12 months later in another game against the Cottage.
And another big feature of Arsenal’s current form is their ability to step up a gear in the second half. Rice’s first goal against Bournemouth was Arsenal’s 10th goal, scored in the first 10 minutes of the second half. He also scored 12 points in the first 15 minutes of the second period. When the going gets tough, this Arsenal team can now step up a gear or two.
In their last four league games they have beaten Everton away, Wolves and Brighton at home, and this time they beat Bournemouth away. Last season we didn’t win any of those games, but now we’ve won them all.
With such a big team, Eberechi Eze has not come off the bench in the last four league games, but how many wins will he be able to win in May?
Iraora: “Bournemouth aren’t solid at the back”
Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola:
“In the first half we played better than Arsenal, but Arsenal found better ways to win the game. This is a sign that we are not efficient. Today’s three goals conceded were too many.”
“Maybe this is not Arsenal’s best game, but they find a way to win. Big teams find a way to win.
“We’re a team that’s doing very well, but we’re not solid at the back. If we’re not solid at the back, it’s going to be very difficult.”
