Arsenal: Cech, Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal, Kolasinac, Ramsey, Xhaka, Ozil, Welbeck, Lacazette
Subs: Ospina, Mertesacker, Coquelin, Iwobi, Walcott, Sanchez, Giroud
—
Arsenal got back to winning ways as two goals from Danny Welbeck a great Alexandre Lacazette strike gave them a convincing 3-0 victory over Bournemouth at the Emirates today.
Arsene Wenger brought his two summer signings, Sead Kolasinac and Alexandre Lacazette back into the side, although there was no place in the starting XI for Alexis Sanchez who only returned from international duty on Thursday.
There was an air of nervousness around the stadium in the early stages, with plenty of empty seats on display, but an early goal helped settle the nerves as the Gunners went ahead in the 6th minute.
Ramsey and Kolasinac combined well down the left, the Bosnian stormed on, crossed it, and Danny Welbeck’s header went in off his own shoulder. 1-0.
Granit Xhaka forced Asmir Begovic into a save shortly afterwards, and the Bournemouth keeper had to be at his best to keep out a Mesut Ozil free kick that almost doubled the Arsenal advantage.
Lovely running from Ozil helped create a chance for Xhaka which he fired over, and in the 27th minute the lead was extended. Arsenal worked it forward through Ozil, Welbeck laid it off, and Lacazette curled it beautifully into the net from just outside the box. 2-0.
Begovic almost cost his team a goal when he cleared the ball into Welbeck, but he showed good reactions to race out to smother the ball as it fell for Lacazette just 10 yards out. In the process the ball actually burst, something you don’t see very often these days.
A lovely flowing move saw Bellerin cross to the back post where Kolasinac’s shot deflected over via the hand of a defender, although it could hardly have been intentional, and Arsenal took a well deserved two goal lead into the break.
The visitors made a change at the break, bringing on Simon Francis for Tyrone Mings, and they had the first opportunity of the second period when Jermaine Defoe headed an Ibe cross onto the post, and then poked the rebound wide while falling over.
It was a warning for Arsenal not to become complacent, and it worked because they reacted by scoring again. Bournemouth gave the ball away, Ramsey picked it up, drove on, slipped the ball down the inside left channel for Welbeck who finished first time with his left foot into the far side of the net. 3-0.
Ozil, set up by Bellerin, fired wide with his right foot as the Gunners continued to dominate the game, and Ramsey’s clever running saw him presented with a point-blank chance but he couldn’t quite make the right connection with the ball.
A confident Welbeck almost got his hat-trick after a run into the box and a chip which curled agonisingly wide.
Arsene Wenger made his first change in the 67th minute, introducing Francis Coquelin for Ramsey, and with a three goal lead Arsenal sat off a bit allowing Bournemouth a rare spell of possession. A free kick just outside the box presented a good chance to get one back but Ibe’s shot went harmlessly wide.
Eddie How made his final change, bringing on Lys Mousset for Defoe in the 71st minute, but it was Arsenal who almost scored again. Ozil set up Coquelin, still looking for his first goal in red and white, but his goal-bound effort was deflected just wide.
Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud came on for Lacazette and Welbeck in the 75th minute, and the reception for the Chilean wasn’t uniformly positive with a few jeers from sections of the crowd.
He was involved quickly though, showing skills with a lovely flick and then a run and pass which created a chance for Giroud which Begovic saved at his near post.
Arsenal were reduced to 10 men for the last 10 minutes when Coquelin’s hamstring went pop and he was forced off. There were chances to find space in behind as Bournemouth pressed forward, but the final ball just wasn’t quite right.
Alexis had a shot blocked, Cech made an excellent save to keep his clean sheet intact when he palmed a looping header over the bar, Begovic saved again from Alexis, but in the end the Gunners were good value for the win, and there were plenty of positives from the performance.
So the Ox after his 8-2 debut loss with us has gone one better with 5-0 on his Liverpool debut. I think for £40m we are well off without him and having to try to accommodate him in the team. His dad Mark Chamberlain was a decent player (69 goals in 518 league games) but never quite made it to the top, I reckon the Ox will follow the same trajectory. Good to see that we do have some good players, being able to bring Alexis and Giroud off the bench is great. Good luck to the Coq, looked painful.… Read more »
Memorable debute for the Ox. He always has memorable debuts.
#8-2
#5-0
They lost Mane for a while now, that could cost them as well
Ox’s last two prem games:
4-0
5-0.
…what are the odds for his next game to be 6-0???
At home v Burnley? I’m willing to bet on it if you think it will be 6-0.
Obviously he’s now going to join Man City and lose 6-0 with them, so it will be at Watford.
Yeah a great win today, but I think perspective is needed, we should be beating Bournemouth at home. Obviously you still need to go out there and put a performance in and get the win, but in reality, it should be a fairly standard. The only thing to take from it is hopefully it does breathe a bit of confidence back into the side going into Chelsea away next weekend. But that is still looking like a really tough fixture given the circumstances surrounding the club at the moment and coming off the back of our first Europa League outing.… Read more »
Did he play today? Is it a debut if he didn’t?
His Southampton debut was a 5-0 win against Huddersfield to be fair. He also scored more in 1 year there than he did in 6 with us.
That was in the first division though
Ox was a waste of a player. I have always said that I will say it again. As for this win, meh! Nothing to get too excited about. Better than Anfield sure. However, the team just spending the 90 mins quietly taking a dump on their own hand in the middle of the field would have been a better display than Anfield’s. There was never any doubt about beating a spineless Bournemouth side at the Emirates. This is so par for the course that its not even par for the course. The real tests are games like away at Chelsea.… Read more »
I mean if you think this was impressive then you are the kind of a person who is amazed that whenever you are in water you seem to get wet. Weird!
This win was welcome for sure, but lots and lots of work ahead.
Fuck me, I work with someone just like you and she’s fucking irritating too. Try to smile once in a while; your face won’t crack.
I agree lol why even post anything if you aren’t happy about a win especially a win that they finally dominated.
I think you would have been happy if Arsenal would have lost so you can come here and post negative narrative about how AW picked the wrong X1, wrong tactics, etc.
Enjoy the the match. They didn’t barely win the game or escape with a victory. They came out and won this game as expected and dominated the match. This is what you want to see against a bad team like Bournemouth right now.
It was great to see the team play well. It certainly helps when you play them in their right positions and you don’t leave the likes of Lacazette and Kolasinac on the bench.
Bit disrespectful mate
Your post is depressing!
Reality is depressing sometimes, especially in North London.
You’re not wrong in my opinion. The Ox has always looked like he could be good but he simply wasn’t able to turn that promise into anything tangible anywhere near often enough. His numbers are atrocious, but he got away with it as a “young player” (which you can’t call him anymore really). Imagine the pitchforks that would be out for Theo if he’d been so unproductive in his career. As for the win, Bournemouth were abject and we capitalised. Nothing more to it for me, no corner turned until this team shows they can do that consistently and to… Read more »
Beautiful, well said CB
COYG!
Needed to show that we mean business, and we did. Job done. Well done lads!
Who would have thought that fielding players in their right positions makes us a better team? Nice win.
Kolasinac looks really good. Lacazette not shit either …
Both look like great signings. Must be said that Lacazette does so much work off the ball that goes unnoticed as well. Won’t stop chasing the ball, making great runs and nicking the ball off the opposition in the final third. And, dare I say it, I haven’t seen such clinical finishing from a man in an Arsenal shirt since the Dutch Skunk was with us.
ice cold finishing resonates with Eduardo.
Nice comparison, that’s true.
If only he didn’t get his leg mutilated at Birmingham. I loved Eduardo and that season we were on for the title.
And it was close to our top eleven that we fielded in those correct positions today (unlike at ‘pool); and we won easily. Hopefully we will continue playing our top players in their best positions (no more Ox to try to accommodate/placate) — and win a lot of games accordingly.
We’re back!
Let’s just enjoy the win! Great performance
Is it negativity if I am.afraid of Chelsea?
Yes….
The have a bad habit of thrashing us so no probably not
We beat them three out of the last four times we played them, including a 3-0 hiding and wining two trophies. Chin up mate.
Still argue with Chelsea fans that their win was bullshit due to alonsos opening goal , sure they argue they would have won anyway but that’s Not what footballs about. we could have gotten a draw or sneaked a win or even battered them 6-0.
We have beaten them 3 times in last 4 matches. Not interested in mid season friendly.
Well it would have been even more enjoying if they showed some “game management” at the end.
They were still all out attack with 10 men and showboating near their penalty box. Can you imagine any other manager that would allow that type of crap?
Yes trying to score more goals is a really bad tactic when you are 3-0 up.
Where has that gotten us since 2004?
I can’t remember us losing a 3-0 lead with 10 minutes to go, but I might be wrong…
well, we were 4-0 up once at Newcastle and we drew with them in 2010. We were also down to 10 men then when Diaby got sent off.
so yeah….
3 fa cups?
Van Gaal won an FA Cup. You know where he is today?
Some call it entertainment for which the majority pay money. Sad sacks suck.
You must be me 10 years ago. When I was satisfied with Arsenal go all out attack and Wenger was still spouting we can win the league with kids.
When you are 3-0 up and the opposition have not had a shot on target, you might as well keep going.
Far too many times in the past we’ve backed off and let teams come at us. It rarely ends well. Better keep the pressure on and not let them into the game.
You mean like when Defoe hit the post few minutes after restart?
Or when Cech had to tip the ball over the bar because Giroud was trying to nutmeg someone?
The post isn’t on target, it’s a miss. A close miss but a miss. I’ve always hated commentary implying that it’s closer, it’s not.
Every Barcelona manager in the last 12 years?
Two words: Goal Differential.
Happy with the win but only Welbeck and Ramsey can frustrate so much yet end up with goals and assists.
Great performance from Welbeck, let’s hope he can kick on and continue to grow in confidence! Such a calm finish for his second goal.
and very dificult and tight angle that was, precise placement if lacazatte and alexis scored that could we would call them lethal.
Go on now welbz score one past at the bridge it is time to win there and come back in the mix.
First was a classic!
My pet theory is that Kolasinac->Welbeck will always result in Welbeck scoring, because he fears for his life if he misses.
Welback:”Who cannot score now? “
Welback? That could be a Sun headline
Don’t underestimate the difficulty of the first header. Cross was behind him. Beautiful cushioned header into the corner of the net.
Nothing like the sight of grown men hugging each other
Ozil Motm.
Said it once and I’ll say it a thousand more times. One of the best counter attacking footballers in the world. We absolutely have to play a higher tempo game as it suits our players to a tee. A true test of a manager is being able to adjust tactics to suit your players and get the most out of them. After seeing what a more direct style brought out today it would be madness for Wenger to descend back into slow build-up play against chelsea. If we play direct, high tempo, counter attacking football the Xhaka-Rambo-Ozil combo is freaking… Read more »
I was surprised AW didn’t go back to a 4231 formation. I agree but why can’t we do both. You can’t always do quick counters. That would mean we would have to become Leicester. There is a time for possession and quick counters through the game. Just have to know when to do it.
@Dave M You are absolutely right. I think we have been missing Cazorla in every single game. At the bridge Conte will keep it compact. The first touch and turnovers are very very important to create space and play high tempo. The thing with Cazorla is he creates space by getting us out of tight situations when the opposition plays compact. This is very very important in big away games. Don’t think Xhaka or Ramsey are capable of doing that against the big teams. They need to be disciplined and let Mesut do his thing. I’m a bit worried that… Read more »
Who was that bloke playing on LWB? And that guy wearing number 9? We should play them more often… Which team was Arsenal? In blue or in red? Brilliant performance all round. That is what the club needs. When players put in that kind of energy on the pitch and dedication to winning the ball back, it makes us fans really proud. The results always come more often than not with such performances. Hope we can keep up such performances throughout most of this season. (I think this is the first Arsenal performance in a very long time where I… Read more »
I watched my first arsenal game today! What a feeling! Well played arsenal!
P.S- City can shove the 60 million up their… I saw Alexis play today!
So starting players in their natural positions does actually work? Who could have known!
Right, good performance, just what we needed. Bournemouth was poor, could have scored couple more. Xhaka MOTM for me. Mustafi was great as well.
Woooooo a “W”.
Now for some consistency (haha).
Bring on the chavs
Let’s give them a kicking in their own back yard, oh how a win can change the mood…
Happy ox left, we don’t have to destabilize the team to accommodate him.. Welbz found his scoring boots? Always start kolasinac, lacazette is on to big things.. Great win.. Coyg.. Performance on repeat
That Guy Welbz! A lot of doubters ate their humble pie today. Funny what playing folks in their right position does, Kolasinac was a beast down the left as was bellerin on the right. Good win all around and all we can do is support. COYG
I don’t think anyone dislikes Welbeck. Everyone recognizes how hard he works out there attacking or defending. Its the finishing that frustrates us all. We need him to be able to convert at a higher rate. Now hopefully this game propels him to a good stretch of games where he is a legit threat.
Great disciplined performance by Ramsey. Great commanding defending by the back five. I loved what I saw from Kolasinac, truly a proper merger between a LB and a LW! Who knew Bellerin’s best position was RWB all along! Amazing link up play and running into spaces by Ozil, Lacazeette, and Welbeck. Especially Ozil, brilliant at running into those spaces so well.
Welbeck: “Mbappe who??”
When Xhaka plays well, we usually win. When Xhaka screws up, we lose.
Xhaka is the most crucial player (position wise) for our squad.
Great performance,,,yes. Enjoy it very much…
I think Ramsey’s currwnt position should be between front three, Ozil, and defensive midfielder. I still don’t have the confidence in Ramsey+Zaka partnership, particularly during tough matches.
On Xhaka I agree 100%, but the more direct style is why he was so effective. Means he doesn’t get drawn excessively up the pitch with his fellow midfielders all ahead of him. Even an errant “longer pass” means we keep more players behind the ball. And seriously Xhaka is deadly as a deep-lying playmaker. Him and ozil play quick possession quick attacking football with Welbs, Rambo and Laca and the wing backs running into space is so so so much more deadly than our usual slow possession football against two rows of 5 defenders
So despite that smashing Liverpool gave us the last game, we are now only 1 point behind them? Amusing.
Exactly, just like at the end of last season!
Congrats to Welbz on his brace. Hopefully this will boost his confidence in scoring more goals for us. Wishing a speedy recovery to Francis.
Dat guy. I would not have started him but he played well today.
Is there a club who fail to prepare their substitutes as badly as us?
We seems to get a fair amount of substitutes who come on and then go off injured?
Yes Aw is responsible for Coq hamstring injury. When is the last time a substitute went off injured ? Amazingly inept comment
Where did I mention AW? lol
You really are an angry little man.
last time subs went off injured, Rambo twice last season, Ox last season.
Coq this season.
WTF lol are you serious? are you saying no subs should ever get injuries?
That’s why I put question mark
It wasn’t a statement it was a question.
Probably the same as every other club to be fair. You just watch us more than the rest, unfortunely.
Am so fed up of the negative, so called, fans. Let us get behind our team and AW.
I wish that Sanchez had gone but, booing him is not gunner help
I am so fed up with the positive, so called fans who lose the big picture after one win and allow for this culture of mediocrity spoil this Football Club. Im happy today but also absolutely sure this will again be a disappointing season. Slaughter me please and as after every season admit i was right in March.
Just a game mate, calm down
Bournemouth at home was the perfect opposition to play coming off of that 4-0 defeat to Liverpool and the mess of the transfer window as they let us play and certainly weren’t organized defensively. Not to take anything from our performance of course as it certainly was positive, but next weekend will be the big test of where we stand with the squad as it is made up now. That role behind the striker certainly suits Welbeck better than lead striker and going to be tough to bench him after his two goal performance today, but Wenger will have to… Read more »
A routine win.
Let’s just suscribe and watch the Arsenal from home and let Kroenke have his empty stadium. This win shouldn’t deceive us, Kroenke doesn’t care about the club. More empty seats the next match.
lets be honest, Bournemouth are one of those types of teams we needlessly struggle against. So to win comfortably is good in my books, and will hopefully put us in the right frame of mind to beat Chelsea in a competitive competition (incl Community Shield) for the third time in just a few months.
Xhaka, Oezil and Ramsey are all fantastic players to have against ‘inferior’ opposition like today. That’s not a slight on them, 15/20 teams in the league were worse than us last season and it’s important to have people that can break them down. What this performance vs last game has shown is that the same players, formation etc can be excellent one week and terrible the next depending on the opposition set up which is the reason I believe our main weakness rather than players, motivation etc is tactical fluidity. If we can have a few options up our sleeves… Read more »
When 2-0 up playing comfortably, to see Lacazette tracking back to win the ball that led to getting our third goal. He seems very committed, and the more I see of him the more I think money well spent.
welbz + deadly finishing? wow
A routine win.
Good goals, some good chances made as well. I liked our eneregy and efforts to close down their players. Laca is excellent closing down, his speed of movement and thought looks good. Delighted when our strikers score. Our bench was strong. So for me a lot to like.
I hope none of today’s starters play on Thursday. There are plenty of players who need some game time.
Well done to the squad and COYG.
Is the Premier League heading for “Spanish” conditions, where only two teams can win? It’s puzzling that the team that beat us 4-0 goes on to lose 5-0 in the next round, while we win 3-0.
How is this even a logical statement?
The same club we beat today lost in extra time 2-1 to the club that beat the club we lost to last game 4-0.
Good win; looks like actually playing players in their positions kind of works right?
Bournemouth were piss poor to be honest but this kind of match was much needed. We need to perform against Chelsea away now
Amazing, you actually play your best players, and you win.
Also, LOL @ Oxlade-Chamberlain losing 5-0 on his debut.
Selling him may be the best thing we do this season, which says more about the way Arsene was ruining the team to play him than about him…but still.
One win in the league doesn’t make a good season or change everyone’s opinion, maybe a fickle few’s.. They need to show us they are serious. Alexis in my books is not worthy of the shirt. Anyone who doesn’t want to wear the shirt just get the hell out so we can have our club and dignity back. No one is doing us any favours by playing for us..
What a difference it makes if you play players in their own position also the ones to whom our shirt still means something.
I really enjoyed the Laca goal. It was so un-Arsenal. We don’t score many from outside the box but he has the instinct to take shot whenever he gets an opening. Long may it continue. COYG.
Beat a very average Bournemouth, easy on the hyperbole lads.
Enjoy it whilst it lasts, as this time next week we’ll be back to crisis mode after a spanking against Chelsea.
Good win, however, nothing’s changed. The game against Chelsea will show if the Liverpool result was a one off as Wenger claims. I’m not expecting too much. It could go either ways.
Three fine goals. Three fine points. Club in crisis? Oh yeah, I forgot, it was only Brighton, Coq was injured, Sanchez was unhappy, Mustafi nearly left, BfG didn’t start, Ollie G had a pimple on his chin and The Times will write it up as another Arsene Wenger clusterfuck…….or is that word now an Arseblog exclusive?
Hopefully if Wenger use this same player and formation against Chelsea, arsenal will surely dominate and bring out something from the game. Use the right player at the right time and in the right position. Good finish for welbz and great strike from lacazette. Ramsey and xhaka did a great job today.
I really do try not to laugh at other people’s misfortune but on this occasion fuck it with regards to oxlade chamberlain..haha haha haha haha haha haha..shit I think I just broke a rib..worth it
With you all the way on that. Although I have no particular hatred towards Liverpool it fills me with joy that Ox’s first game with them was a total disaster. I hope they have a truly awful season.
Oh and would also like to congratulate man city..you do these things on such a small budget well done you
Glad Welbeck scored.
Danny Welbeck is the best, he’s like a young Ronaldo, he should definitely start every game.
is it just me or does almost every goal welbeck scores look clumsy and lucky to have gone in! Either way, as long as hes putting the chances away i dont mind
Great stuff by Dannyboy, but his finishing still looks more random than skilled.
Lacazette on the other hand, damn it feels nice to have a proper great finisher up top again!
Thoroughly enjoyed the game. We need a different game against Chelsea though, we need to player with much more awareness and discipline in the middle. But we can do it because we have in games before. Let’s hope we do because if you ask me who id rather test than Chelsea or Liverpool, these days it’s Chelsea.
There’s only one thing they could have done today. Win. And they did that, pretty convincingly. They didn’t choose the opposition and they didn’t ask them to play badly. Everything else is conjecture. Let’s put our hands together for the team and the manager for now.
COYG!