Mikel Arteta had wanted something less stressful than Arsenal’s previous home win over Bournemouth and he got his wish. In March of last year, his team had needed a 97th-minute Reiss Nelson goal to complete a wild 3-2 victory from 2-0 down.
Here, there was glory in the general sense of comfort and control, Arsenal moving to 83 points, doing everything they could to ask the question of the defending champions, Manchester City, in the race for the Premier League title.
It was not entirely straightforward; it rarely is. Arsenal caught a break at 2-0 up when an Antoine Semenyo goal was disallowed on the advice of the VAR for a foul by Dominic Solanke on the goalkeeper, David Raya.
Solanke looked to have done rather less than, say, Ben White does to opposing goalkeepers on corners. The centre-forward stood his ground, Raya’s weak punch being volleyed back against the crossbar by Ryan Christie before Semenyo put it in. Bournemouth were flabbergasted.
A goal then could have made it interesting. As it was, Arsenal eased home and deservedly so. A Bukayo Saka penalty, awarded after Kai Havertz’s dying swan act, had been scant reward for their first-half dominance and if in-form Bournemouth were more threatening after the interval they were second best overall.
Arsenal did score in the 97th minute but this time it was merely the gloss from Declan Rice on a fine individual performance and the scoreline. Rice was not the only outstanding Arsenal performer. Martin Ødegaard was in master puppeteer mood while Havertz caught the eye with his velvet touch, movement and intelligence.
Leandro Trossard had scored Arsenal’s second goal and they intend to finish with two more wins – against Manchester United and Everton – to take them one shy of the tally of the Invincibles from 2003-04. Will it be enough to match their title-winning achievement?
Arteta’s plan was to get into his pyjamas and watch City’s home game against Wolves at 5.30pm. He had said on Friday that in his “heart and soul” he was hoping for a slip from them. His only focus, however, was on this game, on keeping Arsenal’s end up.
Never mind the Liverpool manager, Jürgen Klopp, does anybody really like 12.30pm kick-offs? Arsenal did here. They roared out of the blocks and were so remorseless until the interval that Arteta would describe it as the best first-half performance of their season.
They were physical, squeezing high, giving Bournemouth no time on the ball. And they were slick when they had it. The Bournemouth goalkeeper, Mark Travers, was put on notice that he was in for a busy game.
Bournemouth’s defenders threw themselves in front of shots; four times inside the opening 10 minutes and plenty more after that. Travers’s best save was to keep out a Takehiro Tomiyasu header after a corner but there were others. The block from William Saliba and the plunge to his right to push away a Thomas Partey curler were worthy of mention.
Bournemouth barely crossed halfway in the first half, although Arsenal did need Saliba to make a big tackle on Solanke in the 18th minute after an error by Gabriel Magalhães. Arsenal’s patience and composure was tested, especially after Rice had lashed wide on 38 minutes after a headed set-up by Havertz. Rice wanted too long, allowing the ball to bounce twice.
Christie had got away with a studs-up tackle on Saka in the 11th minute. It was a possible red card; incredibly, he did not even get yellow. But the game turned away from Bournemouth on what was a soft penalty decision. Havertz simply bought it, having run on to an Ødegaard pass and seen Travers commit himself. Havertz waited for the contact, leaving his trailing leg in to feel it and, when it was there, over he went. Travers had played with fire with the challenge.
Havertz shimmered with menace, teeing up Saka at the start of the second half; the winger shot weakly at Travers when he had to score. But Arsenal needed another goal because Bournemouth dug out a foothold. Solanke worked Raya from a tight angle after Ødegaard had been robbed and Bournemouth sensed opportunity in the transition, with passes up the channels. The home crowd worried that a one-goal lead was precarious. They bellowed their encouragement.
Trossard would calm them down. His finish was in the no-nonsense category, steered home after Ødegaard’s pass had deflected and Rice sculpted the deftest of touches for the assist. When Bournemouth were denied by the VAR, Arsenal looked home and hosed.
Ødegaard would touch a Saka pull-back into the side-netting while Gabriel had a screamer ruled out for offside against Havertz in the middle after an Ødegaard cross. The last word went to Rice after he sliced on to a pass from the substitute Gabriel Jesus to drill past Travers.
