Arsenal suffered a first Premier League (PL) defeat in nine games as they were defeated 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium by Bournemouth, giving Manchester City the chance to close the gap at the top of the table this weekend.
Arsenal’s hopes of an unprecedented quadruple may be over, but the PL and UEFA Champions League (UCL) still offer opportunities for Mikel Arteta’s squad to write themselves into Gunners history. However, the Cherries entered this clash unbeaten in 11 PL matches – the longest active run in the league – and they broke the deadlock with the game’s first shot on target a little over 15 minutes in. Eli Junior Kroupi was the goalscorer, tapping in at the far post for his 10th goal in the top flight this campaign after Adrien Truffert’s low cross was deflected into his path by William Saliba.
As has often been the case domestically in recent weeks, Arsenal struggled to get going before the break, but they were given a lifeline around the half-hour mark. Gabriel Magalhães’ close-range effort struck the hand of Ryan Christie, convincing referee Michael Oliver to point to the penalty spot, from which Viktor Gyökeres buried the subsequent spot-kick with aplomb. Nevertheless, between then and the end of the half, the visitors looked the more dangerous, with David Raya holding a low Evanilson shot and Alex Scott firing over the bar from outside the box.
