Result: Bournemouth 0-4 Arsenal
Competition: Premier League
Date: 30 September 2023
Venue: Vitality Stadium
Arsenal: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Rice, Havertz, Odegaard, Saka, Jesus, Nketiah
Subs: Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, Kiwior, Jorginho, Elneny, Smith Rowe, Vieira, Trossard, Nelson
Arsenal made it three wins from three on the road in the Premier League with a comprehensive 4-0 hammering of Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
Bukayo Saka put the Gunners ahead with a close-range header on 17 minutes before Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz netted penalties either side of the break. In stoppage time, Ben White rounded off the scoring with a tidy header.
The three points mean Arsenal temporarily climb up to second place in the table ahead of City’s visit to the Emirates last weekend. After their defeat to Wolves, things are looking very interesting at the top of the table.
Pre-game
Having had eight players sidelined with knocks and muscular issues for the midweek win over Brentford, Mikel Arteta will have been delighted to welcome back five of them to his matchday squad at the Vitality. William Saliba, Declan Rice, and Bukayo Saka were all passed fit to start the match while Fabio Vieira and Leandro Trossard took up places on the bench. Eddie Nketiah was charged with leading the line with Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus playing as a unit on the left.
First Half
The home fans were encouraged by a positive and bold start by the Cherries who knocked the ball around smoothly. In contrast, the Gunners were sloppy, often guilty of the ‘hospital passes’ the manager had referenced in his pre-game press conference.
Six minutes had elapsed before Arsenal worked the ball into the Bournemouth half but the chance we subsequently created was promising. Saka fed the overlapping White and his cross was scrambled away.
Slowly but surely, Arsenal started to get a grip on the game with captain Odegaard pulling the strings in the pocket between Bournemouth’s midfield and defence. Havertz and Jesus also combined well down the left leading to the German firing a deflected effort into the side netting.
We didn’t have it all our own way, Saliba was forced into a well-timed tackle on Solanke as the striker burst into the box, but we were worthy of our lead when it came on 16 minutes.
Nketiah set off on a determined run before finding Saka on the right, he returned the ball in-field to Odegaard who, from the edge of the box, dinked a teasing ball to the back post for Jesus to head goalwards. The Brazilian’s effort bounced off the woodwork straight to Saka who was free to nod into an empty net for his fifth goal of the season. (GOAL 1-0).
Having been subdued against Sp*rs, Odegaard was full of pep here. A beautiful, clipped sand wedge of a pass nearly found Nketiah before a slide-rule through ball freed Jesus. His cross resulted in a corner which was worked short to Zinchenko who stung the palms of Neto with a rocket from outside the box.
Havertz went in the book for a later challenge on Billing who then retaliated with a foul of his own that wasn’t punished by a card. The Arsenal fans were not impressed with referee Michael Salisbury who was treated to a round of “You don’t know what you’re doing” when Saka and Jesus were also roughed up. It was all getting a bit scruffy and niggly.
Three minutes before the break, the officials came up trumps for the Gunners. After a give-and-go with Zinchenko, Nketiah burst into the box and was tripped by Aarons. It was as clear and obvious a penalty as they come. Thankfully, the referee agreed. Odegaard stepped up, stuttered his run up and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way. (GOAL 2-0)
Five minutes of stoppage time were arguably our most uncomfortable of the half. Gabriel Magalhaes was forced into a desperate but brilliantly timed block – greeted like it was a goal by his teammates – and Raya had to make his first stop, diving left to claim a bouncing effort by Christie.
Second Half
Arsenal came close to a third inside 90 seconds of the restart with Saka and Zinchenko both having efforts from close range after more clever work by Odegaard.
Four minutes later, our captain won our second penalty of the afternoon. He probably should have shot first time when the ball was laid off to him in the box, instead he took a touch, drew a challenge from behind by Christie and hit the turf.
Again, it was a definite penalty. The question was who’d take it. Saka and Odegaard had a chat and handed the ball to Havertz. He didn’t look overly confident as he stepped up but he put the ball away with aplomb and was promptly mobbed by his teammates. (GOAL 3-0)
Such is his personality, he almost looked uncomfortable with the attention but he must have enjoyed the moment, especially as the travelling Gooners piped up with a brand new chant for him to the tune of Shakira’s ‘Waka Waka’.
Arsenal continued to push forward and Nketiah thought he’d drawn another foul closing in on the box but his claims were waved away. Replays showed a small nudge in the back that probably should have resulted in a red card for the offending Bournemouth defender.
Nketiah’s final action of the afternoon was a shot flashed just wide of Neto’s post. The striker went off to a standing ovation after a very decent performance. He was replaced by Reiss Nelson while Takehiro Tomiyasu came on for Zinchenko. Saka followed them off the pitch soon after. Having taken yet another knock to his ankle, he required treatment before Fabio Vieira came on in his place.
Desperate for a goal, Bournemouth had lots of the ball around our box but their finishing was nothing short of appalling. Our plan was to hit them on the break and Jesus came close to a fourth with a rasping low drive across goal. Jorginho for Rice and Smith Rowe for Havertz rounded off the substitutions.
The final 10 minutes were basically a training match with the Gunners knocking the ball between themselves while the travelling fans taunted the home support with a full repertoire of their favourite tunes.
Smith Rowe came desperately close to getting on the scoresheet – Neto made a fine fingertip save – before White added a cherry on top deep into stoppage time with a header from a free-kick. (GOAL 4-0)
All in all, a very good day at the office. Of course, stiffer tests await this week. There’s a midweek Champions League test in Lens and then the small matter of City at the Emirates. Win that and we could go top.
Great to hear the away fans having fun and supporting every player, a credit to the club. Shit referee (again).
Totally, our Emirates crowd can learn a thing or two from them.
So many yellow card offenses went unpunished. What was the ref doing? He gave the set piece coach a yellow for protesting
Well, im glad. I had a bet we was going to have the most cards + 0.5 😀
Henrik your surnames not Salisbury is it
pgmol aren’t fit for purpose. any of us would have been fired from our jobs for gross incompetence long ago, but the balding white men from manchester celebrity orgnazation goes on and on with no repercussions
Is there a more inept and corrupt institution in England than PGMOL? Asking for a friend.
An institution going by the name of “government”.
Libdems
We were awarded two pens. Relax.
if the other team are allowed to foul with impunity and all our players are injured, does that balance out? no. the rules of the game are the rules of the game, not to be made up each week by some balding man from manchester
Perfectly relaxed thanks. Getting 2 decisions right doesnt make you above criticism for getting multiple decisions wrong. Id rather our players didnt get injured because the opposition can foul without punishment.
What are you even talking about?
did you watch the match today? bournemouth committed 11 fouls (according to bbc, and these were fouls that were actually called, mind) and received zero cards. our set piece coach received more cards today. inexplicable.
Every week people who whining about fouls, just shut up and move on..not every match is a travesty from the referee. It’s football, players are going to get kicked and get knocks, this is a contact sport. If there’s any blame to be put on players carrying on with knocks it’s the manager.
dude, Relax
The problem is, again, how the league is marketed and how below standard the refs are for the supposed greatest league in the world. There is zero accountability or oversight on these men from greater manchester, and that’s the problem, regardless of what team you support.
If you had more of a valid point you wouldnt have to work so hard to misrepresent what has been said or the manner in which it has been said.
Hard to prove anything to anyone who’s so stuck in their bias they can’t see the truth. Nketiah and Gabriel were not fouled and wanted the ref to bail them out. Saka was not fouled as their left back was in the process of shooting and slipped and Saka come in late and got a kick. It’s part of the game.
Wrong.
only contact allowed is shoulder to shoulder.
What are the lyrics for the Dart song?
No idea, looked like a lot of fun though.
why are you slagging the ref? gave us two pens
Didnt give us anything, correcltly awarded 2 pens. Also missed multiple fouls and yellow cards for Bournemouth while booking us for lesser offences.
Probably because outside of that he was absolutely abysmal. How the Bournemouth fans had the cheek to act like he was helping us out, I don’t know.
Great performance by all – but that block by Gabriel before half time! At 2-1 it’s a different game.
I rarely criticise Arteta but 67th minute up 3-0 Saka absolutely has to come off. And ideally Odegaard too, they play every game.
Other than that great win, the team spirit to give Kai that penalty is really somethign special.
Agreed. It was poor management to leave saka on.
also poor by the ref to allow saka to be kicked relentlessly all game and not show a single card (or even stop play for obvious fouls three feet in front of him).
Mainly because he just had an ankle problem the week before. Looked like the same spot as sunday?
Struggling to understand the downvotes. 3 goals up and cruising against a very poor side. Why keep Saka on the pitch until he HAD to come off?
I guess they want to see Saka out with an injury for 3-6 months.
Get the fuck IN. Great results this weekend, starting with ourselves but looking tasty after City and Brighton losses.
Oh how those Spurs and Fulham results could have been avoided.
Glad for Havertz too x
Bukayo Sa-klass
The table looks a lot better than this morning!
It’ll look even better come Monday after another Chelsea loss.
Great result, especially with City’s loss (no one cares about United any more).
I hope there would no bad news today, the last thing I want to hear is that Saka is injured.
He’ll be fine, trust me 😉
And our invincibles record remains unmatched!
Happy St Invincibles Day everybody!!
I mean Liverpool and Sp*rs have yet to lose, so let’s not count our chickens just yet, but yes, City losing is a huge result!
Hopeful it’s an impact type injury. Those are water off a ducks back for him.
Exactly, I’d be much more worried if it was a hamstring.
I do care about them a lot. I have a major grudge for a lot of things regarding that club. So ha ha ha ha at them 😀
Incredible stuff it really was to put 4 past the Cherries. A good performance but question marks remains surrounding Nketiah & Havertz.
Can you stop being such a toxic supporter and get off Havertz’s back as he was excellent today and his physical presence caused Bournemouth problems. Improving all the time and trust Arteta as he will be a great signing. He needs more time and do you remember how it took Pires nearly a whole season to come good.
Pires won player of the year in 6 months at the club. What are you on about
Excellent performance and the perfect day if not for the potential Saka injury. Was shouting at my stream for him to come off after the 3rd goal, hopefully it’s nothing to serious and he’s fit for City.
Also super happy for Havertz and it really shows the spirit of this side that they gave him the penalty to tuck away. Methinks some supporters on here can learn a thing or two from that and get behind him like the team has!
Am getting a bunch of downvotes for saying the exact same thing (both about Saka and Havertz) a few comments up for some reason. Weird.
Take the downvotes as a badge of honour, you’ve clearly rattled someone recently! 😉
Fine 🙂
Then I shall consider a name change to Aaron Rattlesdale 😇
some folks come on and simply downvote the poster, not the content of their post.
Don’t think I’ve given that many people here a reason for that. Perhaps it’s just a matter of phrasing, like there are more enthusiastic ways to say the same thing that maybe give people better vibes after a win? If so fair enough. I’m just paranoid about Saka getting injured/run into the ground so that might overshadow slightly my enjoyment of the win, to see how Mikel keeps being kind of reckless with him. But I love our manager otherwise, love the family spirit he created and how everyone looks to take care of each other and really enjoyed the… Read more »
I think it’s because you started your first sentence with “I rarely criticise Arteta but” and a load of people started foaming at the mouth as they considered you an “enemy of the people” for criticising our glorious leader.
In their eyes, unless you blindly follow, treating the manager as omnipotent, you are not a true supporter. Criticism cannot be from a good place, but only a threat to the cohesion of the motherland.
Fantastic result. Looked well in control from the starting whistle, played some lovely football and kept a clean sheet. Shoutout to those away fans, they were absolutely outstanding – 11/10 performance, and I love the Havertz song which got some serious airtime today!
I thought the Havertz goal was kind of an embarrassment. They all seem desperate to ensure that their team mate is successful rather than the team.
Mate if you genuinely think this you really don’t get how team sports work.
If Havertz is successful the team will likely be successful.
I do like that an anagram of your username is Batman Song. No relation to Alex presumably
A better anagram is Bagman Snot. Kind of describes his posts.
I think this post is an embarrassment.
As usual angry fans before the game about Eddie starting, be he started the move for the first goal and won the penalty for the second to put us up 2-0. Would it be too optimistic to think that would be enough to impress those angry fans…?
*”but he started…”
He hasn’t been scoring but he certainly is helping us win games, both this one at in midweek v
Brentford with his steal and assist for the 1-0 to the Arsenal. Not saying hes the best striker on earth but hope people can at least acknowledge what he does do to help us win points.
I think (hope) MA heavily rotated for the Lens game and all our key players get fit for next weekend
Rotates*
We have to win against Lens. We will plan for City when we get to City.
We are very, very, very good.
Good game….
Touch of class from the team allowing Kai score that penalty.
ESR would have score two goals but Neto saved them.
Man c Lost… the next game against arsenal is going to be interesting..
The two games we drew (Fulham, spurs) so far, we should have won them judging by the circumstances in both games but its all good. Let’s keep pushing and pressing and see what happens.
CoYG’
Agree with fulham match, unfortunately not with the spuds one, in that match, i don’t think we the better team
We were not the better team against Spunts but nor were we the worse – it was equal I would say. And that was only because we didn’t play very well. We could and should have beaten them, all we needed was a bit more composure, and for MA to have hooked Eddy off when he should’ve seen he was having a poor game.
normally i dont complain about the ref when we win so thoroughly, but what in the actual fuck was he doing today? not a single bournemouth player booked when they kicked us every time we came forward. repeat fouls by the same players were ignored, rotational fouling was ignored, professional fouls were ignored when they were blatant and obvious, and our set piece coach got a card for complaining about it. pgmol are a joke!
It felt like he basically said to himself, well after giving Arsenal two penalties I’m certainly not going to give them anything else. Which is awful refereeing. This isn’t some scale you need to balance, call what you fucking see on the pitch.
you’re not supposed to make calls based on previous calls awarded to other teams, and instead make the call in isolation. its literally the first thing they teach you when officiating any sport. its incompetence or corruption, but regardless, the impact on the players and the results are the same. the only person worse at his job in the uk than kier starmer is howard webb.
after watching a game involving Liverpool yesterday, I think PGMOL is a big joker.
The incompetence is by design to get the online comments and clicks going, only rationale for it besides being bought by betting houses.
A lot of good things happened in this match:
1. the cohesiveness of the team, when Saka gave Odegaard a penalty, and then in the third penalty it was given to Harvertz
2. Harvertz got his first goal, hopefully, this will boost his confidence, so that he can grow even more.
3. man city and man united match result
not so good:
1. Saka’s injury, hopefully not a serious one
2. Still don’t know why Ramsdale is now the second goalkeeper, is Ramsdale going to change clubs next season, or what if in the next winter transfer window?
Arteta finally ran Saka into the ground. Didn’t see that one coming!
should arteta have made the sub, yes. however, bournemouth players kicking him all game didn’t help either. the ref not calling fouls didn’t help either.
Freaking out about league position? Just wait a week.
Can we please take a moment just to laught at Man United?
i’ve got all afternoon to laugh at them 🙂
Me too! And their salty fans who thinks they still are the best club in the world just because of Alex fergusson. U just cant make that up. 😀
I simply do not understand leaving saka on after ht. Give fellow a break.
otherwise methodical, not explosive. I suppose we are building towards that
When Partey returns let’s hope Arteta doesn’t play him as a right back.
After Bournemouth away last year I had the Saliba song stuck in my head for a week, this year its gonna be the Havertz song. Love it!
Fantastic result and great for restoring the feel good factor after last week’s crock of shit against the filth.
And a drum roll please to herald those sky blue cunts up the M1 blowing yet another attempt at an unbeaten League season.
NEVER, EVER, let anyone tell you that winning the fucking treble is harder than going unbeaten an entire season in the hardest league in the world.
That Gold Premiership trophy of ours is UNIQUE – and always will be.
Pretty much perfect day for Arsenal. Enjoy Gooners!
What a relief to finally have that Havertz goal. Loved the reaction from the crowd when it happened.
Hopefully he can let his shoulders down now and play more freely.
Am I the only one who thinks ESR should get more playing time?