Arsenal solidified their place at the top of the Premier League table with a challenging win over AFC Bournemouth. In one of the most dominant games of their season, the Gunners wasted plenty of first-half chances but mercifully took away maximum points.
Bukayo Saka gave the Gunners the lead from the penalty spot after a lengthy VAR check. Leandro Trossard then did enough to get the job done, firing in a curling effort supplied by Declan Rice who then scored himself in stoppage time.
Despite the game being on TNT Sports, the television cameras could only capture so much. Thankfully, football.london were inside the ground to spot what the pictures missed.
With the game square inside the first 32 minutes, Arsenal were dominant and were into double figures in terms of chances. Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard had multiple attempts but he Cherries’ defence remained strong.
On the half-hour mark, however, Bournemouth began to get a lot more of the ball as a lull in the Gunners’ play emerged. Struggling to get it back, Gabriel produced a fine tackle just outside the ‘D’ but instead of calmly playing the ball out to a teammate, he opted for a massive kick out of play to the groans of the crowd.
Thomas Partey immediately spun, outstretched arms to question his teammate’s decision. Arsenal needed calmness to gain back dominance which they did soon after with Saka’s penalty just before halftime.
Arteta pushes the boundaries
There has been plenty of focus on Mikel Arteta and his behaviour on the touchline. The Spaniard has already had one touchline suspension which sent him to the stands for the 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa.
In the second half Darren England, the fourth official, had to come and remind the Arsenal manager of his boundaries again. He was effectively blocking the Bournemouth man from taking his throw-in to be fair.
However, Arteta was seen arguing that the player had moved considerably far upfield. Enough he felt to take matters into his own hands.
White at corners
All the build-up in midweek had been about Ben White’s antics during corner kicks in the North London Derby. Rivals fans had spent time making compilations to try and highlight the England international’s cheeky interactions with the goalkeepers.
Several pundits took offence to it with Graeme Souness calling it out and even the Premier League’s official X account posted highlighting it. When it came therefore to the clash with The Cherries, all eyes were on White.
Disappointingly, however, there was very little to discuss as any early corner in the game got a rousing “Benny White, White, White” from the Arsenal supporters. He was in different positions for different corners but little in the way of cheekiness this week – maybe someone has had a word.
