Arsenal’s revenge mission this week has been a dish best served cold. After Unai Emery’s Aston Villa felt the force of the Premier League leaders in a 4-1 thrashing, this time it was Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth who were vanquished despite being gifted the opening goal by Gabriel Magalhães.
The Brazilian promptly equalised before Declan Rice capped his return from injury with two goals as Arsenal moved six points clear at the top, even if they had to survive a nervous last 16 minutes after the substitute Eli Junior Kroupi pulled one back.
Mikel Arteta had promised that his players would learn from last season’s defeat here and a 2-1 loss to Bournemouth in May when Liverpool had already been crowned champions. After a sloppy first half it seemed they still had some way to go to heed the lessons of previous seasons, but they were so much sharper after the break, no doubt with a few home truths from their manager still ringing in their ears. With Rice in this kind of marauding form and a fifth straight league win in the bag, Arsenal will take some stopping in 2026.
Villa’s win over Nottingham Forest earlier in the day had cut their lead to three points. But the news that Rice had passed a late fitness test was a reason for Arteta to feel optimistic despite slumping to a 2-0 defeat here last season. Probably with Thursday’s meeting with Liverpool in mind, Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard were introduced only from the bench in the second half after Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli had been handed rare starts. However, it was a fourth league match in succession that the £67.5m summer signing Eberechi Eze did not play a single minute in what must be a concern for the England forward in a World Cup year.
Bournemouth were unchanged from their draw against Chelsea before the new year, with Antoine Semenyo seen sharing a few hugs with the home fans before kick-off in what could be his last game for the club if an anticipated move to Manchester City goes ahead. One has to wonder whether it was part of Pep Guardiola’s plan to allow the Ghana forward to stay a bit longer and see if he could do some damage against their title rivals. Semenyo took less than 10 seconds to illustrate his threat after a long ball straight from kick-off caused confusion in the Arsenal box but he could not get a shot away. That was the story of his evening, although Semenyo was lucky to still be on the field for the second half after pulling back Rice when he had already been booked.
Madueke was determined to make the most of his opportunity on the right flank in place of Saka but wasted a glorious opportunity after cutting in from the right flank as Arsenal looked to have seized control. No one would have expected it to be Gabriel who would be guilty of presenting Bournemouth with a goal on a plate, so dependable is the Brazilian usually. Evanilson could not believe his luck when an ambitious pass intended for Jurriën Timber presented the striker with the simplest of tasks to open the scoring.
A furious Arteta turned on his heels and headed for his seat in the dugout. It was not long before he was up again to celebrate their equaliser that came after Madueke left Semenyo for dead. His cross found its way to the back post after Martinelli’s effort was blocked and Gabriel lashed in a shot with his left foot.
With the £64m striker Viktor Gyökeres again labouring up front, Arsenal were still far from their flowing best. In stark comparison, Evanilson was a real handful for their defenders and it needed some last-ditch defending from Gabriel to clear a number of dangerous crosses. Arteta exchanged angry words with the Bournemouth bench when Semenyo escaped punishment for pulling back Rice before storming down the tunnel at half-time with plenty on his mind.
Despite the freezing conditions, the Arsenal manager was back at his post early for the second half and would not have been pleased to see the space David Brooks was afforded before shooting wide. But Arteta’s mood was transformed within a minute. Gyökeres was involved in the buildup as he held off Marcus Senesi and allowed Martin Ødegaard to tee up Rice, whose shot flew past Djordje Petrovic in the Bournemouth goal.
The England midfielder was soon celebrating his second by planting a kiss on a television camera after a brilliant combination between Saka and Ødegaard. Arsenal appeared to be home and dry but Bournemouth had other ideas. Kroupi came off the bench to fire past David Raya from 25 yards and briefly spark hopes of a comeback. The home fans were left incensed when the referee blew for full time with Bournemouth still on the attack, not that Arsenal nor their jubilant supporters will care one bit.
