Arsenal beat Bournemouth 1-2 at their home, not being able to beat Bournemouth away since February 7, 2016 when they won 0-2. Unai Emery and his men should be delighted with this result that brings them up to 27 points, being only a point away from fourth place Chelsea, and 3 points from Tottenham Hotspur, making the race for the top 4 more intense. With Emery’s men getting a win after drawing 3 of their last Premier League games, this should help bring in momentum for Arsenal after the international break.
Bournemouth begin the match with most of the ball possession, continuing the keep the ball in the opposite half of the field. took only 7 minutes for Bournemouth to score their first goal after Callum Wilson gets marked by two defenders allowing David Brooks to have space and score but he was offside. Arsenal have an instant response in less than a minute, with Bouremouth defender Simon Francis is beaten by Lucas Torreira, who takes a shot that beat Begovic but its off the crossbar. First 10 minutes with a lively start with both sides having goal scoring opportunities.
Arsenal have a corner kick in the 23rd minute and it goes to Pierre – Emerick Aubameyang who shoots it over the crossbar surprisingly. Not what is expected from a player who has 7 goals and 1 assist in this campaign. Sokratis Papatathopoulos is given a yellow card after his aggressive challenge on Joshua King in the left flank, free-kick to Bournemouth. Ryan Fraser curls it to the right corner and it is saved from Bernd Leno.
Arsenal take the lead in the 30th minute after a freakish own goal! Torriera begins the counter attack with a through ball to Sead Kolasinac, he does a low cross down the middle and Bournemouths Jefferson Lerma does a slide tackle ahead of the penatly spot and the ball goes in his own net. Bournemouth 0-1 Arsenal.
Arsenal are keeping possession, taking the ball in Bournemouths half but not scoring, with multiple shots being saved or off target. in the last minute Bournemouths Joshua King scores after a brilliant counter attack from their penalty box to Arsenals. Iwobi losses the ball and Fraser takes the ball and passes to Callum Wilson to the other half, he passes it to Brooks down the middle and with King left open in the oppositions box, he receives the ball and scores in the last seconds of the first half. First half ends Bournemouth 1-1 Arsenal. Arsenal failures in the first half continue as they fail to take the lead in the first half this season, with only 19th place Cardiff City being the only other team with this stat.
The second half begins and it starts the same way as the other half, with Bournemouth all over Arsenals defense. Penalty shout for Bournemouth after Fraser was taken down by Kolasinac outside the left penalty box in the 48th minute. Bournemouth have another fantastic counter attack in the 54th minute, this time it fails to get to the back of the net. Fraser curling cross goes slightly over Wilson who could have possibly scored. Arsenal are seen to be more attacking minded this half, with defender Rob Holding seen to be in Bournemouth half in more than one occasion.
In the 65th minute Bournemouths Lerma gets a yellow card, his 5th of the season. The freekick is well played out with Torreira passing it to Mkhitaryan then to Xhaka who gives it to Iwobi and he finds Kolasinnac with a through ball who crosses to it Aubameyang who scores with a sliding finish. Arsenal take the lead and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scores his 8th of the season, now joint top scorer in the league with Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero. With this formation allowing the wing backs to be more in the attacking third, Emerys new formation is working out well for Kolasinac.
Arsenal have their own counter attack with Aubameyang using his pace to bring the ball all the way to the other end. He gives it to Mkhitaryan who has bad touch and misses his shot. Not the best game from Mkhitaryan, having more than 2 shots of target and not having the same creativity as Ozil, who knows how much longer until the Armenian is replaced by the German midfielder.
David Brooks is replaces in the 73rd minute , he’s had a decent game with having a disallowed goal and an assist.
In the 78th minute Kolasinac gets a shot after going down the left side. The Bosnian is having an impressive game with an assist and his physicality keeping Bournemouth quiet. Emery makes his first substitution in the 78th minute and it is surprisingly Lucas Torreira taken out, he comes of for Mateo Guendozi , the young French defensive midfielder. Aaron Ramsey comes on for Alex Iwobi in the 83rd minute, both Iwobi and Torreira were subbed off from a round of applause from their fans singing their names.
Scorer King comes off for Bournemouth with what seems to be a formation change from Eddie Howe. In the 84th minute Jefferson Lerma has a shot from 30 yards out and hits the post, what a game he’s had with also having an own goal and a booking. They get a free kick in the 89th minute and Bernd Leno with another diving save, keeping Arsenal in the game.
In the 93rd minute, youngster Eddie Nkhetiah comes on for his debut this season but the substitution was too late as the game ended without him getting a single touch. In the 94th minute, Shkodran Mustafi commits a foul right outside the penalty box, and Bournemouth are awarded a freekick with a perfect chance the equalize with the last kick of the match. Stanilas shoots it over and the game ends 2-1.
Bournemouth must be disappointing with losing their third straight league match, and to make it worse, they face current champions and league leaders Manchester City next week. After City dismantling West Ham 4-0 yesterday, Bournemouth defenders should be prepared with on form City.
Arsenal extend their undefeated streak to 17, with 13 wins and 4 draws in all competitions. They still need to improve on the first half, as they are winning all their games in the second half. In the first so far in the league, they have had 7 goals scored and 10 conceded with a -3 goal difference. Their second half record is much better with 21 goals scored and 6 conceded with a +15 goal difference, no other team has had more goals in the second half then Arsenal. As for Arsenal, they face their North London Rivals Tottenham Hotspur next week in the Premier League where if they get a win, their chances of getting into the top four rises with a win leveling them on 30 points with Spurs.
Match Ratings:
With Arsenal having a lack of defensive structure and Bournemouth with an underrated attack, Unai Emery decided to be bold and start his team with a new 5-2-3 line up . Star Striker Alexandre Lacazette was left out due to a groin injury that kept out of the France team. The strikers link up play with Aubameyang was noticeably missing , with Aubameyang relying more on wing backs then midfielders for the ball. Mesut Ozil was left on the bench and his absence was clear, with his creativity seen to be missing. It isn’t understandable as to why he didn’t play as he has retired from the German national team and will be most likely saved for the match vs Spurs.
Line ups:
GK: Leno- 7
Conceded a goal in the last minute of the first half but it was more his defenses fault, he had multiple important saves through the match keeping Arsenal in the lead.
Defenders: Kolasinac* – 9 (LWB) Holding – 7 (LCB) Papastathopoulos – 7 (CB) Mustafi – 6 (RCB) Bellerin- 8 (RWB)
Kolasinac was the man of the match after being the player who benefited the most from the formation change. He was running up and down the field causing Bournemouth multiple problems, and assisted Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Midfielders: Xhaka*- 6 (LDM) Torreira – 8 (RDM)
Xhaka has been the captain for more than one occasion this season and had an average game. He misplaced passes throughout the game, something the Swiss has been needing to improve on this season.
Forwards: Iwobi- 6 (LW) Mkhitaryan*- 4 (RW) Aubameyang – 7 * (ST)
Subs: Guendozi – 6 (CDM) Ramsey -7 (CAM) Nkhetia – N/A (ST)
Henrikh Mkhitaryan was the worst player on the pitch, he had 6 shots with only 1 on target. His touches this game were off and this will bring him more behind Mesut Ozil in the starting XI.
Aubameyang is now joint top scorer in the Premeir League but could have had more than one goal to his name tonight if his shots were more accurate. The Gabon didn’t play for his country during the break so more was expected by him, but scoring the winner was crucial as it gives Arsenal a better chance in finishing in the top 4.
Bournemouth Line Up:
GK: Begovic-6
Could have done better and recognize Aubameyang was open and save the goal, other than that he’s had a good game with 3 saves.
Defenders: Francis -6(RB) Cook- 6 (RCB) Ake* – 5(LCB) Daniels (LB)
Ake is Bournemouth most exciting defender only being 23 years old, but with his past performances more was expected by him. Ake also received a yellow card.
Midfield: Brooks (RM) Gosling – 5 (RCM) Lerma* 6 (LCM) Fraser 7 (LM)
Jefferson Lerma had a interesting game being in fault for both goals. Scoring an own goal and committing the foul that led to Arsenal’s second goal. He was also booked and is now suspended for the match versus Manchester City next week.
Forwards: King* – 7 (CF) Wilson 5 (ST)
King scored the equalizer for Bournemouth in the last second of the firs half. He scored a beautiful shot that Bernd Leno couldn’t save.
Alex's Soccer Blog 