Bournemouth secured a landslide victory in the Premier League title race after defeating a nervous Arsenal 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium.
Manager Mikel Arteta urged Arsenal fans to prepare for the midday kick-off by bringing “breakfast, lunch and dinner” to create a hostile atmosphere, but his message did not get through to his players. They put in a sluggish and nervous performance and missed the chance to take the lead with a 12-point difference.
Junior Crupi gave Bournemouth a deserved lead (17 points) and Victor Goqueres (35) scored Arsenal’s equalizer from the penalty spot after Ryan Christie blocked Gabriel Magalhães’ shot with his hand.
Arteta brought on Ebelesi Eze, Max Doman and Leandro Trossard to try to spark his side, but it was Bournemouth who were most likely to score a winner, with Alex Scott, 74, scoring it as the visitors celebrated their second successive win at the Emirates.
There was some booing from the home fans after the game when the visiting fans chanted “second place again”, but that could become a reality after the Gunners’ lackluster performances that have seen them finish runners-up the past three seasons. A nine-point lead has rarely looked so precarious.
With two games in hand against the Gunners, Man City have a chance to cut their lead at the top of the table to just six points when they host Chelsea live on Sky Sports (4.30pm kick-off) on Sunday.
The Gunners travel to the Etihad next Sunday, a game that will take on added significance after Arteta’s side suffered a third successive domestic defeat and cast big doubts over whether they can win their first title in 22 years.
Arteta: knocks down big punch to the face
Mikel Arteta expressed disappointment as Arsenal lost to Bournemouth
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta:
“Very disappointing. It’s a big punch to the face. How we react now is important.
“I give them credit for what they did, but there’s a reason they haven’t lost 11 games.
“They did a lot of things right. In the first half, when we expected them to, when we got the ball back, we were far from efficient.
“It was their first chance to attack in the box, but it was a deflection and a very bad defensive move that cost us a goal.
“That’s something we have to deal with emotionally. We recovered and tried to push them and we scored from a penalty and another game will be expected.
“But I did a lot of weird things today.”
“Terrible, terrible results.”
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Paul Merson suggested Arsenal’s title confidence could be dashed after their 2-1 home defeat to Bournemouth, describing how “sloppy” their performance was.
Sky Sports’ Paul Merson talks about Saturday’s football:
“I stay away from newspapers and social media because everyone says meltdown is here!
“It’s a terrible, terrible result. It was a bad performance, there was no energy, there was no sense of ‘let’s take the game to Bournemouth’. It’s a sloppy result.”
Asked if there was any glimmer of hope for Arsenal, he added: “I don’t think City will beat Chelsea on Sunday.”
Arsenal’s remaining league games
Nothing could be easier for Gunners…
April 19: Man City (a) – live on Sky Sports April 25: Newcastle (h) – live on Sky Sports May 2: Fulham (h) – live on Sky Sports May 10: West Ham (a) – live on Sky Sports May 17: Burnley (h) May 24: Crystal Palace (a)
Iraora: We rose to the occasion.
Alex Scott drives away to celebrate the game-winning goal
Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola told TNT Sport:
“I’m very happy for the players, in big games of this kind you have to rise to the occasion.
“We showed character and enjoyed some moments on the ball that were sometimes difficult against Arsenal.
“It was nice to get the job done because there were always a lot of draws with question marks, but today we got the three points, which was big for us.
“Before this game we were in a strange situation, having drawn five games in a row.
“We didn’t fully enjoy it, but we needed this game to put ourselves in a better position in the table.”
