Arsenal fought back against Bournemouth to claim all three point at the Emirates with the latest of late shows.
Reiss Nelson's strike, deep into injury time, sent the Emirates in raptures on an afternoon that could prove defining in the title race. The Cherries scored the second fast goal in the competition's history when Philip Billing finished within ten seconds. The Gunners, who had seen Manchester City win just hours earlier, failed to make their pressure count before half-time and then fell two goals behind before the hour mark.
Marcos Senesi headed home in front of Bournemouth's travelling faithful before Thomas Partey cut the deficit just minutes later. Ben White rounded off the comeback to set up a grandstand final 20 minutes. The hosts had all the momentum but couldn't find the decisive fifth goal, even with a mammoth six minutes of added time.
They enjoyed the majority of possession with VAR consulted on several contentious calls, but the Premier League strugglers looked set to hold out - that was until Nelson's late thunderbolt - which had the entire Arsenal bench celebrating on the pitch.
Here a five talking points from north London.
1. 45 minutes to define a season
If Arsenal go on to claim a first league title since 2004, then an afternoon in March may well be pointed to as a pivotal moment. With an hour gone the Gunners trailed by two goals to Bournemouth, who threatened to blow the title race wide open.
A Partey goal after 62 minutes changed all that and, when White levelled the contest after 70 minutes, there was always a sense of inevitability about where the fifth goal would go. Of course it was to the hosts, who re-establish their five point lead at the top when it could've been just two.
Games that appear routine wins will be anything but in the final stretch of the campaign and this clash in north London highlighted that. Arsenal though showed a character that will have had a deflating impact on their rivals watching on.
2. Quick out the blocks
For almost 20 years Ledley King held the record for having the fastest ever Premier League goal following his strike against Bradford in 2000. Shane Long usurped him with a strike in under eight seconds against Watford in 2019, but Billing gave beating it a good go at the Emirates.
His opener narrowly missed out, crossing the line after 9.11 seconds, but it was still the perfect start from the visitors. Billing's effort will take some beating this term but the neat finish did force Arsenal to step up their pace, perhaps earlier than they otherwise would have. The contest quickly descended into an earlier edition of attack vs defence, which is a pattern that remained.
3. How about that game clock?
It has been announced by FIFA that there could be a massive shift in the game's time keeping. According to Spanish outlet Marca, the game's governing body are seriously considering a new 'game clock' rule, where the clock stops when the ball goes out of play.
It is designed to prevent time wasting - and boy would that have made a difference in north London. Bournemouth goalkeeper Neto was getting jeered within the opening 15 minutes as he took his time over goal kicks. Arteta was seen, arms out wide, as he took issue with the time being taken by the visitors.
Such changes, which were somewhat considered at the World Cup with games going on for over 100 minutes, would be radical, but welcomed by many. Not least the Emirates crowd on Saturday afternoon, not that they cared by full-time.
4. Vieira's opportunity
Granit Xhaka's absence from the starting XI was the headline before kick-off with the Swiss star being handed a rare afternoon on the bench. It allowed Fabio Vieira to come in having rarely started since his summer move from Porto.
The playmaker has had to deal with substitute cameos, which has somewhat limited him. His only start came at Brentford earlier this season, where he capped an impressive display with his only league goal of the campaign. Arsenal's dominance with the ball was always going to play to his strengths and he occupied a more advanced role than Xhaka would adopt.
On the face of it, this game was the ideal opportunity to throw Vieira into the mix, but you get the impression Xhaka still provides more defensive assurances against the better sides in the league, thus the Portuguese's time as a starter may be short lived.
5. Further injury concerns
If playing Eddie Nketiah as a striker was plan B and having Leandro Trossard as a false nine was plan C, then the Gunners found themselves onto plan D within 25 minutes on Saturday. The Belgian hobbled off early in the contest with Emile Smith Rowe replacing him.
The academy graduate has been injured this term, which has hampered his first-team opportunities, but he was introduced earlier than planned. It bought about a reshuffled in the front line with Smith Rowe heading out to the left and Martinelli coming in centrally.
Arsenal's thin squad has been cited as an issue, but they've managed to remain largely injury free for much of the campaign. Now though knocks and niggles could be setting in at the most untimely period of the season.
