AFC Bournemouth (0) 0 Arsenal (2) 4
Premier League
Vitality Stadium (Dean Court), Kings Park, Bournemouth BH7 7AF
Saturday, 30th September 2023. Kick-off time: 3.00pm
(4-3-3) David Raya; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Oleksandr Zinchenko; Martin Ødegaard (c), Declan Rice, Kai Havertz; Eddie Nketiah, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus.
Substitutes: Aaron Ramsdale, Emile Smith-Rowe, Jakob Kiwior, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Leandro Trossard, (Jorge Luiz Frello Filho) Jorginho, Fábio Vieira, Reiss Nelson, Mohamed Elneny.
Scorers: Bukayo Saka (17 mins), Martin Ødegaard (44 mins, penalty), Kai Havertz (53 mins, penalty), Ben White (90+3 mins)
Yellow Cards: Kai Havertz
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 58%
Referee: Michael Salisbury
Assistant Referees: Constantine Hatzidakis, James Mainwaring
Fourth Official: Sam Allison
VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR David Coote; AVAR Nick Greenhalgh
Attendance: 11,379
We travel to AFC Bournemouth on the south coast today, hoping to make it seven unbeaten matches in a row. Unfortunately, Gabriel Martinelli is not fit to play this afternoon, but Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, and Leandro Trossard were assessed before the game by our coaching staff to ascertain as to whether they can play today, and all three were passed fit, thankfully.
A very steady start by our chaps (playing in lime green today), but the home side have shown early attacking threats through Marcus Tavernier. Gabriel Jesus slotted a beautiful ball into the path of Kai Havertz, whose left-footed shot from the left side of the penalty area was blocked by a Cherries’ defender, and almost immediately we were in a bit of trouble when a snap Dominic Solanke shot went narrowly wide of David Raya’s post.
After just seventeen minutes, we took the lead when Martin Ødegaard’s superb curling ball into the penalty area was headed back off the woodwork by Gabriel Jesus, with Bukayo Saka the first Arsenal player on hand to pounce onto the rebound to head the ball into the bottom right hand corner of the net for his first away goal in the Premiership this season.
The home side retaliated, with Marcus Tavernier attempting a clever through ball, but Max Aarons was easily caught offside by the linesman. Oleksandr Zinchenko’s superb left-footed shot from the left hand side of the penalty area was saved by goalkeeper Neto, and just after Declan Rice passed an accurate pass into the path of Oleksandr Zinchenko which was saved by the Cherries’ goalie, play was stopped briefly because of an injury to Neto.
Kai Havertz received our first yellow card of the afternoon for a silly foul on Philip Billing, and a few minutes’ later, Eddie Nketiah’s great attempt to score from the centre of the penalty area was blocked by the Bournemouth defence.
Three minutes before the break, Eddie Nketiah was brought down in the penalty area; referee Michael Salisbury pointed to the spot with no hesitation, and our captain easily scored with a left-footed shot to the bottom left-hand corner of the net to double our lead. In injury time, Max Aarons passed a ball to Philip Billing on the edge of our penalty area, but his shot was easily blocked by our defence, and just after a Dominic Solanke effort that wide of David Raya’s post, the referee blew the whistle for the half time hiatus.
Just after the second half started, a clever Bukayo Saka left-footed shot from the right-hand side of the six-yard box was just about saved by Neto in the bottom right-hand corner of the goal, and shortly afterwards, an Oleksandr Zinchenko shot from just outside the penalty area was blocked by the Cherries’ defence.
We were continually pressurising the home side, and just eight minutes after the restart, after a bad Ryan Christie foul on our captain, Kai Havertz scored his first Arsenal goal of the season when he sent Neto the wrong way after striking the penalty kick firmly and accurately to score our third goal of the afternoon.
We were controlling the game really well now, with some excellent dominant play, particularly in the midfield area. With twenty minutes of the game remaining, probably with one eye on the Champions League game against RC Lens on Tuesday evening, Mikel Arteta made a couple of substitutions with Takehiro Tomiyasu and Reiss Nelson replacing Oleksandr Zinchenko and Eddie Nketiah.
The home side were still attempting to score, but every time that any of them get in a position to shoot, one of our defenders was always on hand to block the shot.
With fifteen minutes of the match left to play, Bukayo Saka limped off the pitch with an injury to be replaced by Fábio Vieira, which is extremely concerning, to say the least. Fábio Vieira was immediately in the thick of it, providing a great ball for Gabriel Jesus, whose shot flew past Neto’s post.
With less than ten minutes of the match remaining, Emile Smith-Rowe and Jorginho replaced Declan Rice and Kai Havertz, and still we came forward, hunting for more goals. Reiss Nelson slotted the ball to Emile Smith-Rowe, whose right-footed shot from the centre of the penalty area was saved by Neto in the bottom right-hand corner of the goal.
In the third minute of injury time, we grabbed our fourth goal of the afternoon when Martin Ødegaard crossed the ball for Ben White to head the ball home from a free kick out on the right wing. Just after a superb Emile Smith-Rowe shot that was saved by Neto, referee Michael Salisbury blew his whistle to bring matters to a conclusion.
A very good day at the office indeed. With fifty-eight per cent possession, fifteen shots on goal (eight on target) and four goals, we have not only deserved the victory, but our second place in the Premiership table is well earned, however brief that may be. All in all, a satifactory afternoon, with the only bad point being Bukayo Saka’s injury. Let us hope that it is a minor injury and that he will be back in action soon, but we will have to wait and see for some news from the coaching staff. Well done, chaps.
Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: RC Lens at Stade Bollaert-Delelis on Tuesday, 3rd October at 8.00pm(Champions League). Be there, if you can. Victoria Concordia Crescit.
Steve
Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 