A first away defeat in the Premier League for Arsenal since the turn of the year and, this time, playing with 10 men proved too much of a tall order.
The Gunners have had plenty of experience playing with a man less this season and indeed this was a third time in eight league games they have had someone sent off.
William Saliba was the man shown his marching orders on this occasion, with VAR recommending referee Robert Jones upgrade the yellow card he’d shown to a red after the French defender had brought down Bournemouth’s Evanilson.
The striker had got in behind Arsenal’s defence after a loose pass from Leandro Trossard and Saliba was adjudged to have pulled him back. It felt like instinct from Saliba, who was sent off for the first time in his Arsenal career, and the Gunners had their backs to the wall from then on.
It took Bournemouth until the 70th minute to break through, however, and there was a sense of irony in that they scored from a set-piece.
That has so often been Arsenal’s biggest weapon, but this time they were outdone by a routine worthy of finding its way into Nico Jover's scrapbook.
A corner was played into the near-post and, after Justin Kluivert flicked it behind him, Ryan Christie arrowed the ball into the top corner.
Nine minutes later, Kluivert had made it 2-0. Once again, Arsenal were undone by a sloppy back-pass as Jakub Kiwior sold David Raya short. The goalkeeper brought down Evanilson and Kluivert made no mistake from the spot.
It was a passage of play that summed up Arsenal’s evening. Even with 10 men, they never really clicked and couldn’t find their usual rhythm.
Gabriel Martinelli injected some pace off the bench, but he squandered the visitors biggest chance moments before Bournemouth went ahead. A poor pass from Kepa was pounced on by Mikel Merino, who played in Martinelli, but the winger’s shot was saved.
This is a performance Arsenal will want to forget quickly and they can at least be thankful that should be easy to do so, given they are back in action on Tuesday when they host Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League.
They will hope to have Bukayo Saka back for that as they missed his creativity here, which was even more noticeable with Martin Odegaard still out, too.
