This is a match in which Arsenal probably shouldn’t have conceded a single goal. Yet, two costly errors allowed Bournemouth to jump ahead 2 goals to nil. After that, they scored a goal against the run of play bringing their total to 3-0. Arsenal brought on Perez and changed the game, finally getting a shot on target and dragging a goal back before putting on the afterburners and leveling 3-3 thanks to some clever finishing. In the end, this was a game light in quality but heavy in goals.
Here’s the shots quality chart over 90 minutes without the penalty:
As you can see, this was a close (but crappy) contest until the 65th minute. That’s when Arsenal subbed on Perez and kicked into another gear. Without the penalty, Bournemouth’s shot quality was less than 1 over the whole 90 minutes whereas Arsenal finished at 1.5.
With the penalty Bournemouth made Arsenal look like chumps up until the 90th minute.
As you can see, that bone-head penalty gave Bournemouth a huge boost. I want to be clear: that was a nailed on penalty. I’m not complaining about the referee. What I’m saying is that Bournemouth’s first goal wasn’t down to them dominating Arsenal in the first 16 minutes but rather due to Arsenal’s shambolic defending. As you can see, their shot quality up to the 15th minute was rather low at just 0.06. I’m also saying that the penalty gave Bournemouth a huge boost and gave Arsenal a mountain to climb and Arsenal took forever to get climbing.
Here is what the passing dominance chart looks like, broken down by individual 5 minute sections of time, rather than cumulative.
What you see here is Bournemouth scoring their first goal with the run of play. They had a good five minute between the 11th and 16th minute which created the eventual goal. The penalty was against the run of play, as was the Fraser third. And then, when Arsene puts on Perez, Arsenal dominate each section of the match in which they score, by huge margins as well.
Arsenal didn’t start well, despite having a lot of the ball. They didn’t get a shot off until the 21st minute and didn’t get a shot on goal until Alexis scored in the 70th. That’s pathetic. But.. if the defense had been a little more organized, switched on, and hadn’t pushed the “season self destruct” button by leaving Charlie Daniels and the Devil alone in Georgia and then giving away a stupid penalty, Arsenal may have just comfortably won this match.
@7amkickoff
Source: my database, data collected from WhoScored.com
3-0 down against a ‘small club’, and your first shot on target is in 70th minute.
Anyone got any answers for that?
But, but… we dominated?!
The problem, for all that there’s some improvement on last season, is still Arsenal’s variable quality in finishing. Bournemouth had 12 shots, 6 on target; Arsenal had 14 shots, but only 4 on target (source: BBC). We don’t take our chances. Not as much as we should. And I’m even including Alexis in that; you can see how disappointed he is when he thinks he should have scored. I’d have thought “hitting the target” should be one of the top skills a footballer, especially a forward or attacking midfielder, would work on to develop, given that it’s goals that win… Read more »
If that was a penalty as you say, the Ryan Frazer committed the same foul on Bellerin before he scored B’Mouth’s third. The two challenges were identical……
It seems many people have missed, in my opinion, that Xhaka gets his feet tangled with the attacker, along with the arm in the back. I think ark alone would have been soft, but as the challenger for the ball, Xhaka tripped him.
So, definite pen sorry to say. And needless.
Pretty sure they pushed that button in Manchester.
The self destruct button is always on no matter which teams we are playing. Pathetic.
So you are not complaining about referee? What game did you watch? First goal: ok bad defending, no excuses. Second goal/penalty: Again soft yet penalty, Xhaka needs to be told once and for all- Premier league refs and most refs HATE ARSENAL. do not give them a reason to punish you. Any contact and a dive in penalty area means a guaranteed pen kick against Arsenal. Soft foul and penalty was given. Very soft foul at that. Yet I agre pen was still deserved. Third goal: should have never stood, as Frazier committed an identical offence against bellerin, just like… Read more »
You have to be kidding on Xhaka penalty. It was a clear and obvious shove in the back. Definite penalty.
Oliver is the least biased referee in the game. You know this because other teams speak highly of him too. The only soft decision last night was the red card he gave against Bournemouth – if it had been a yellow we wouldn’t have howled. There’s a time and a place to complain about the referee – last night wasn’t one of them.
Agree.. Michael Bottler, is to my mind, the best ref in the league. We weren’t complaining when he sent of that United Twat in the FA cup Semi Finals a few years back for touching the ref on the back. ….. AT OLD TRAFFORD! Had we had Mike Dean or Anthony Taylor last night, then we could have had reason to complain at the ref. The only real issue I had last night with the Ref was the Bellerin foul that led to their third.. It he had got that right, we would be talking this morning about the great… Read more »
complexion*
We should play like we played 2nd the whole season …and you will see the results …Chelsea always play like that .. Full of mood
In my humble opinion we are missing an inspirational and motivational captain who leads by both example and by instruction.
Frank McLintock , Tony Adams , Patrick Vieira….any one of those legends at their peak leading us to get the absolute best out of the obvious class that we have in the squad would make a massive difference. The manager should channel his thoughts through the captain to the rest of the players not just let them get on with it as Wenger has admitted he does.
Xhaka, in two years.
Arteta was a great player and an excellent leader, yet we still somehow barely scrapped for fourth every year.
Alexis for captain, please. He looks the most passionate of the bunch. He’s always trying, always showing for the ball, never shies away, and he doesn’t hesitate to give anyone an earful.
I couldn’t believe it when Cech was given the armband. Leading Arsenal from the goal isn’t the best idea.
Loved the reference to the country song Tim.
Matt P Read my comment again. Read entire comment not just bits that fit your agenda. And then try and formulate a constructive response. At no point did I say the penalty wasn’t there. At no point did I say it was questionable. On contrary, I said and I quote: ‘Again soft yet penalty’… and I also said … ‘Soft foul and penalty was given. Very soft foul at that. Yet I agree pen was still deserved.’ Now when I say soft foul I mean unnecessary. The foul was there. The penalty was correctly awarded. I hope that has untangled… Read more »
If you want to reply to Matt P’s comment then just click on reply under his comment. It’s quite simple.
I hope that has untangled the web of confusion for you my young padavan. You can now head back to your cave.
performance like this will happen as long as wenger is in charge bring in paddy viera as manager and berkamp no 2
Performances like this will happen as long as anyone is in charge !! Its called football, its a sport played by humans,if you cant see other sides getting simerlar situations then you dont live in the real world.
Is there something wrong with your memory or were you born after 2004 but we once were a great team and with this manager ant tactics we will never win anything
Yes, we were a great team with this manager…..
If your referring to the pre wenger era, which it seems like you are, the I hear crystal palace are doing good deals on tickets for people who love watching paint. Not even drying paint. Just paint.
Wenger buys some players nowadays like himself weak..heartless..no ambition past players he bought had size and heart … vieara..petit..cambell..pieres..henry..gilberto…leahman..nowadays ..he buys players size and heart of ..Walcott..Ramsey..cazorla..Chamberlain..ozil …now please don’t reply saying ozil and cazorla are world class they are im stating the size and lack off fight
Ozil and Cazorla are world class.
You know, Size, doesn’t mean Bigger heart… look at Sanchez Arsene Wenger is no shortarse at 6’3.. so by your standard, Arsene Wenger has lots of heart. Cazorla’s a short arse, but one of his best assests is his size, it gives him a low centre of gravity (look at Sanchez) This means when some Blunderbuss Midfielder comes to close him down, he can spin them and get away. That’s why he is so effective in the Deep laying Midfielder role.. his gets away from his man and plays great passes. Lional Mesi is 5’7 Ronaldo is 6’1 Suarez 6’0… Read more »
I didn’t say you had to be tall to have heart roy keane..johnny giles ..nicky butt ..david batty..wayne Rooney none of them werent 6ft but they would fight with there nails
Hey! You leave Santi’s height out of this.
And also, in the same vein as John Terry, Roy Keane is a cunt.
This game showed me how important wining the ball back is. It’s not as easy as we think when we see Coq intercepting, sliding, pocking the ball to a nearby team mate, being in an opponent’s face and resist fouling blatantly. I was agitated when Xaka, Bellerin, Mustafi, and Ramsey couldn’t win/tackle/recover with efficiency when it seemed easy to do. We take it for granted.
Quick question – how is shot quality defined? And which components go into calculating it?
Area of the pitch. It’s like Expected Goals.
Is it me, or does Alexis Sanchez look like he doesn’t want to be playing for Arsenal anymore? He seems to be showing his emotions quite a bit on the pitch. After the City loss, the end of the Palace game he looked frustrated and he (obviously) looked angry at all his team mates yesterday too.
Looking at replays last night, am sure Oli will realise how utterly ridiculous his celebration was for the equalizer! That’s why Alexis is first choice striker, it’s the MENTALITY!! Hahahahaha funny tho! really idiotic but funny!
HFB celebrating the equalizer like he score the winning goal was embarrasing!
A real show of character is coming back to win…just not good enough IMO
we came back from 3 goals down. he assisted 2 and scored the equalizer. it was a moment of pure passion. that’s what football is all about. it’s okay if it got to his head.
Bournemouth had a game plan, they harassed us from the off and they have great pace. They didn’t let us have time on the ball and we got caught out with 3 humiliating goals to nil. We had no intensity whatsoever and Xhaka’s crossing was so crap. When is Santi back? 🙁
Arsenal won’t win anything major with the current board and Kroenke’s ownership. Bring back Dein!
The Ox and Lucas have to start going forward. or AT LEAST one of the two. You need someone direct in the team, especially when we are missing Walcott’s forward runs. 1st half we literally created nothing, caused no problems because everything was static around Giroud. As soon as Perez and the Ox came on we started dragging Bournemouth players about, creating openings and ultimately scored 3 goals. Not to say that the Ox or Perez would have prevented the Bournemouth goals, but they might have been too busy dealing with us to start all of those attacks if you… Read more »
Up voted for your name – The Legend!
Apart from the comeback we were extremely poor in the first 65mins. Fatigue maybe but I have three issues Monreal needs a rest, I hope Gibbs comes back soon. Cech needs to practice saving penalties… With Cech between the sticks facing a penalty it’s like not having anybody at all. And some goals he’s conceding are questionable. I would bench him if I was wenger give him a rest maybe. His kicking in the man city game was really poor. He couldn’t make the half way line.. If am not mistaken that second goal came from such a poor kick.… Read more »
Just get the point and ignore the typos thank you
If it was fatigue, why were we better at the end of the match instead of at the start?
They ran themselves ragged that’s why. They played an expensive game kudos to them. Highly motivated and Howe eyeing that golden sit wenger is on. The boys dug deep and after the tottenham game we all agree that hard point was important instead of 11 its 8 points. And the 14 game record stands right? 18games to go. We still are in it we just need to play well n get the points. wenger much respect to you but get the balance of the team right, will you? Ramsey is not a 10 and tell that boy to keep it… Read more »
I think it’s because they went down to 10 men and decided to sit back. As soon as we made it 3-3 we were under pressure again
With 48 hours between games it’s not unforgivable, knocks for bellerin, kos and gabriel before the match make it sound like we lost the defense before we stepped on the field. Well the team sheet had a ring of hacked together, as for the match itself kudos to bournemouth they played well and hard, we struggled to keep up. It is football and such things do happen unfortunately for us it happens at the most inopportune junctures of the season every season. As far as the vitriol that seems to pour out after every draw/defeat no manager. I repeat not… Read more »
Alexis Sanchez having a record year Alexis Sanchez comes out in the public and says “put your trust in me” Arsene Wenger almost immediately changes the teams identity and shunts Alexis Sanchez to left flank duty …to fit in Olivier Giroud No one really talks about it because Giroud keeps scoring …yet our change in identity brings about a tremendously awful run in form but Giroud scores…but fixture congestion…but injury list…but…but…but As a coach myself, I know the one thing to develop and the one thing to guard is team identity. Who you are and how you want to do… Read more »
For me Ramsey is the person who completely throws off the team. Maybe it’s because he’s just come back, but all I saw before Coquelin went off was Ramsey slowing things down, taking too many touches, ruining the momentum and making poor decisions. I’m sorry but for me he is an anathema to our team at the moment. As soon as ox came on and Ramsey played further back, we immediately became more of a fluid attacking force. Also Cech – If Sczeczny had put in the same performances as Cech has, he would be roundly criticised and his place… Read more »
Couldn’t agree more
It’s a tricky one with the keepers. I’d suggest that there have been some excellent cech saves that ospina wouldnt have made. And some moments when ospina would have lathered himself in glory where cech has not. Near post cech has been beaten a few times this season, and too his right seems to be a weakness. I kind of feel ospina would be better for the speed of the league games and cech experience in europe would be an advantage there. But ospina seems to do well in tournaments. Maybe we didnt really need to buy cech at all… Read more »
Not registering a shot on target, or even a shot, for long periods of the game is very worrying trend when you are Arsenal and not clinical at all.
I’ve heard on occasions uncountable how a world class right back Hector Bellerin is, but his performance Tuesday night vs Bournemouth was atrocious, to say the least. He was at fault for Bournemouth’s first and third goals. If he was not fit for the match, then why play him?I don’t buy Wenger’s excuses because he is known for stupid excuses to explain off disappointing results. Arsenal will never win the EPL again as long as Wenger remains the manager. Mark my words!
You cant just dismiss every excuse because sometimes wenger protects the players by blaming other factors. He isnt mourinho, hes not likely to come out and say ‘hector had a shit game and its pathetic that he cant play 180 minutes of top level football in 48 hours’ literally it is absolutely ridiculous. Think about it. Get home from the palace match on sunday evening. Fairly late id imagine. Wake up monday sore and aching have a rest. Wake up tuesday, train, play a match. Its a ridiculous schedule. We all knew bournemouth was a tough opponent, we all knew… Read more »
In as much as I don’t like Alexis’s reported tantrums to express his disappointment at unfavorable results I still believe he is the only player of real world class quality in this arsenal squad. He feels unhappy because he realises he is almost the only one there with a winning mentality and demonstrates that in his displays. Alexis is grossly unhappy and I don’t think he will continue to stay if things don’t change, either by way of bringing in a couple of new players of his class or a change of manager for one with better ideas in modern… Read more »
If there is an improvement this season – which I don’t see. The other teams around us with the possible exception of M City have shown a bigger improvement. Same problems year after year. If Sanchez leaves it will be because he knows he’ll never win the bigger prizes with us. Wenger out and well overdue too