Arsenal saw their greatest weapon in set-pieces become their biggest weakness as Bournemouth scored twice from dead-ball situations to complete a 2-1 comeback win at the Emirates.
The Gunners were leading 1-0 through Declan Rice’s opener on his 100th Gunners appearance – but Bournemouth used Arsenal’s greatest strength against them twice in eight second-half minutes.
Rice rounds Kepa to put Arsenal ahead
Dean Huijsen’s header from a long throw brought Bournemouth level, and Arsenal were further stunned when Evanilson headed home at the back post from a corner which Marcus Tavernier flicked on.
VAR checked Evanilson’s winner for a potential handball from the forward but the clearest replay showed the ball missed his hand. It was the fourth set-piece goal conceded by Arsenal in their last three Premier League games at home – and it helped earn Bournemouth’s first ever win at Arsenal.
David Raya can’t stop Dean Huijsen’s header as Bournemouth equalise at the Emirates
The result is a huge boost to Bournemouth’s European hopes as they jumped up to eighth in the Premier League table, after Fulham’s loss at Aston Villa earlier in the day. Should the Cherries stay there and Manchester City win the FA Cup, Andoni Iraola’s side would likely qualify for the Europa Conference League.
But for Arsenal, it’s no wins in three as preparation for their biggest match of the season against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League semi-final second leg on Wednesday night.
“It didn’t create positive momentum but it’s created a lot of anger, frustration, rage, disappointment – let’s use all that for Wednesday,” said Arteta to Sky Sports after the game.
WATCH: Bournemouth’s DOUBLE set-piece hammer blow
Dean Huijsen equalises for Bournemouth at Arsenal
Evanilson bundles one in at the far post to give Bournemouth the lead at Arsenal.
Arteta on more points dropped: We didn’t kill them
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta to Sky Sports:
“We’ve lost points here to Palace, Fulham and Brentford – it’s something we need to improve.
“We had so many opportunities, we had big spaces, opened them up but we needed to score and we didn’t. And when you defend the box like we did and concede two goals from set pieces at this level it’s very difficult to earn the three points.
“We didn’t kill them, we gave them hope and they scored from two set-pieces and it became very chaotic.”
‘Arsenal on verge of a really poor season’
Sky Sports’ Jamie Redknapp:
“Mikel Arteta will be terrified now of not only going out of Europe but not finishing second. If Man City were going to wobble this year the only team set up to win it were Arsenal.
“If they don’t finish second and don’t win a trophy it ends up being a really poor season because we’ve spoken about how bad Man City have been – but they can still win a cup and finish second. That’s a decent season. Arsenal have to finish second.”
Iraola: We needed this win
Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola to Sky Sports:
“I like the game overall. I think we had chances. They scored but we played well. The key was the set-plays in the second half. In the end in these close games to make the difference with the set-plays was the key to take the three points.
“At half time, we were talking about a good first half. They (Arsenal) are going to have chances but we were playing well, having a lot of the ball, taking good positions.
“It was a matter of doing the same thing, pushing a bit more, and the subs also helped us. Antoine (Semenyo) coming from the bench was a good spark at that moment when both teams were tired.
“We needed this one because we know the schedule we have. Arsenal, Villa, City, you have to get points where you don’t expect. We missed a few chances recently and we needed it this time to go to our side.”
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