Arsenal moved four points clear at the top of the Premier League after a somewhat complicated 3-0 win over Bournemouth this afternoon.
The Gunners missed a host of first chances before a Bukayo Saka penalty put us ahead. The second 45 was more even, but Leandro Trossard made it 2-0, before Declan Rice sealed the deal at the end – although Bournemouth had a goal disallowed at a key moment in the second half.
But it was all about the points, we got them, and we now keep everything crossed that Wolves can do us a favour later on.
Here’s how the players rated this afternoon.
Read the Arsenal 3-0 Bournemouth match report and see the goal here
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Thought Havertz was a 9.5 tbh. He was exceptional.
A player I’ve never fancied and didn’t really want at the club turns out to be a real diamond. Superb in the last several games.
I wanted him when he was at Germany but I was puzzled after his Chelsea stinker. Few are better than him now
Rice hit after burner throughout the game. He’s just such a powerful midfielder.
For the second goal he went all the way to right back position to keep possession, then travelled to the front to create an opening. He is good.
I was in the same boat with you mate. Actually envied the Spuds for having got Madison. Shows how much we know about football, and why Arteta is the coach and not us.
Madison would have been a nice addition
Yes. Great washbag collection and he would have been useful as the “too lightweight to be effective “ player in the squad when Vieira was injured.
poor man’s fabio viera, madison
Madison is the new Kane… divey, whingey prick.
Maddison Bullock the actress?
Couldn’t agree more! The more he puts up these brilliant CF performances, the more I worry about him losing continuity and by extension, form next season if we bring in a top 9. I guess time will tell.
so scoring a hat trick would have only changed 0.5? he played well but a few bad decisions against us and he’d have gotten a 7 at most. if he can put more goals on top of his great performances it would be great.
I mean…you can score a hatrick and do nothing else (haaland). Is that worth a higher mark than someone who is integral to everything good we do in a 3-0 win against a really good side? But sure…id have given him a 10 if he scored a hattrick. In fact fuck it…he gets a ten anyway.
Just looks so much part of the team at this point. Whenever there is a chance to win the ball you just about know he’ll get something on it.
Havertz grew two inches taller while at Chelsea, not a surprise that it affected his play for a while. And of course Chelsea never knew what to do with him anyway.
I wonder if the Chelsea fans who were celebrating selling him to us for 65 million are still crowing now like they were at the time?
But Chelsea won the transfer window!!!
They have hapless Mudryk to prove it!
Who knows how good Mudryk would be had he not signed for Basket Case FC.
We’ll never know and I think we got ourselves a sweet player in Trossard instead. Trossard is a gem.
And for a FIFTH of Mudryk’s price!
Yes, a basket case for most of this season, but Chelsea will challenge for the title next season.
Really? Rarely happens. Oddly I grew over a half inch in height in my 30’s. Which is very odd.
Would your thirties have coincided with platform shoes in the 70’s?
“Havertz grew two inches taller at Chelsea…”
Guess his maturing body responded in the only way it could have to rise above the shitstink
Havertz started well at Chelsea and towards the end he was a mess. Chelsea used to be a club where players evolved and became great but it’s now the exact opposite. The only thing anyone can be sure of with Chelsea nowadays is that they’ll turn gold into shit. Havertz must be over the moon that he escaped that sinking ship. His career has been revived.
I thought he should have scored at least one today. There was a ball I think Jesus rolled across the box today, and Havertz was on his heels, and didnt make the run for an easy tap in. That’s the kinda stuff he has to add to his game whilst maintain this new found pocket of form. And regarding the game, Bournemouth can have no complaints. I’ve seen some hilarious stuff online about Havertz diving for his penalty.. but Harry Kane, Son, Salah, De Bruyne do it.. its clever play… but when we do it, its a clear dive, its… Read more »
Bonus rating is bang on, love this fucking team and Declan fucking Rice and MRtin fucking Odegaard are at the centre of it all!
You have to had – the shiny new, refurbed Thomas Partey is allowing Martin and Declan to really strut their stuff. Bungs up the midfield and just keeps threading the needle from their with zero fuss or flash.
Really good team performance……. Hard to decide who was motm……. That’s a good sign.
Come on Wolves
Easily Rice, for me. Haverthwaite a decent shout, too. They both seem to have gone up a notch since joining us.
Havertz* this meddling autocorrect can do one! Although, I do think Haverthwaite would be a top name for a lad who wants to pursue a career in sprinting.
The Arsenal Gent would approve.
Declan Messi or Declan Vieira? Take your pick. Min. 8/10 for everyone. That was a solid mature performance against a difficult in form team.
Lampard but with impeccable tackling and tracking back.
Lamport?! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
You reminded me that when Trossard got his goal I thought of Messi. Who to my amazement sometimes Just stands somewhere waiting for the ball then shots and scores. Sometimes patience is the answer.
Thing about him is, he so often only needs one sniff at an opening – hits it first time with either foot. In games like yesterday when we were creating (and missing!) chances every 5 minutes, that is priceless in how it releases pressure.
Seriously, how much would you happily see the club play for a player who contributes like that and so regularly. I think he’s been almost criminally underrated for a good few years
My rating of him was always based on when we played Brighton – I always got nervous when he had the ball in our half. Unpredictable. Two-footed. And only needs a glimpse at goal.
many noticeable trends in an enjoyable performance: trossard as reliable as always, rice an absolute machine that should shoot more often, odegaard peaking these last few matches and ready to be the best midfielder in the world next season. raya’s a shaky mess, the golden glove should’ve been given to our defense. please, there’s no way we pay 30M for a keeper like that. partey looks very rusty, slow with the ball, unaware, i can’t see how he’s getting so much praise. tomiyasu is the best defender we have in the creative phase, and while i adore white’s consistency, i… Read more »
Great performance from the team. For the first 30 minutes we were relentless and absolutely bombarded their goal. However, in the second half we let Bournemouth attack when we should have controlled the game.
One thing I have noticed is that in highly important games Gabriel is quite nervous and prone to making errors. You can see the stress on his face. Saliba is mostly calm.
i agree ever since gabriel joined he’s been like that, but this season i think he really ironed out those silly errors and got rid of the unnecessary penalties. however, it’s true that today he had like 3-4 individual errors that could’ve costed us a goal. he’s allowed to have a day after all he’s done for us, so good thing the team was there to back him up
He’s had more than a few of those this season – it’s the only chink in his armour.
He strikes me as being a very ’emotional’ player and sometimes to the detriment of his performances. That said, his form has been sufficiently excellent, if the rumour mill is to be believed, to have Barcelona, PSG and Bayern all sniffing around to see if they can coax him away from the Emirates.
Yep, the keeper with the most clean sheets in the most competitive league in the world is a ‘shaky mess’ Breaking News: excessive amounts of nutmeg can cause psychoactive effects.
Should have been out of sight in the first half, Bournemouth made more of a game of it in the second though and there were moments when we had to dig deep. Solid performance all round, Havertz and Saka were standouts again and I’m out of superlatives for Rice, can’t believe we got him half price!
Win the league or not, we used to pray to be involved, love Teta, love the team, #Ooh2Be
This team deserve to finish the season with a trophy. I’ll be proud of them regardless but the football gods really need to do something
If the narrative Gods have anything about them, then they’ll understand we’ve all watched the ‘City relentlessly turn it on in the second half of the season’ script for the past fifty years, and see there’s simply no place for it in the 2023/24 timeline. As such they’ll recognise the importance of the Tottenham game a week from now, and work their magic so our North London rivals assist us in winning our first league title in 20 years. You know, just as long as the narrative Gods turn up to work the next couple of weeks
For the last 115 years. That’s always the number to use in reference to that lot.
If the Premier league had got their act together City would have had a significant points deduction last season ( &we’d have won the league) & relegated them to league 1 for this season & we’d be clear for the title now.
Either that or we didn’t fck up the villa game 3 weeks ago…sigh…
Great win. We absolutely deserve the title, and I hope you win it soon.
you? strange 1am brainfart. I meant we!
I love Declan Rice as an 8. He’s got too much to his game to play mostly at 6.
Fully agree. If we find a Partey type player then we have the perfect first team.
Spot on bonus. Just had the exact same thought in the first half. What a ride!!
He’s here, he’s there, he’s every-fucking-where, DECLAN RICE!!! Seems a bargain at 100m. Team performance 9/10. Special mention for Gabby’s absolute screamer, scared my dogs with the howl of delight after that IBCM hit the top bins. Extra special boos for Ryan Christie, that sniveling carton of three day old herring, flopping around trying to tear our players legs off at the joints.
Declan “Half-Price” Rice, bargain of the year!
A brilliant game to win up against all odds.
We won against the odds? How so?
Having ‘AFC’ in front of your name doesn’t make you an elite European superpower….
Name a midfielder better than Declan Rice on this planet. I cant and hes ours. I also have to admit i was wrong about Harvetz. Even though we need a nr 9 he has been really good lately.
There’s very few but he doesn’t quite have the same range of skills as: Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri, Luka Modric or Jude Bellingham,
This team is firm favourite for the EPL next season. If City win all their games, that’s fine by me; that will only heighten the hunger.
Our title celebrations will only be put on ice for 12 months.
While Raya saved well at his near post, I wouldn’t rate him so highly today. We got away with that goal being disallowed, Raya didn’t have enough pressure on him at all to warrant a punch, he should’ve caught that. Made a near mess of things later on when he pinched the ball away and collided into Gabi. The rest of his involvements are things you’d expect to see your goalkeeper do. Partey is very good offensively, but everyone has to admit that he adds a little bit of chaos defensively, no wonder our defensive numbers were so good when… Read more »
It’s interesting to see how the form of Martinelli and Jesus have dropped off a cliff.
Jesus looks like he can barely play football at the moment. Is it because they’re not playing? Or are we just being blown away by Havertz and Trossard at the moment?
Have to disagree on Jesus. Look how he moves and shifts for that assist late on. The man is a class player. The knee problem is the only thing holding him back and hopefully he can take a few cameos like today thru the end of the season and then take care of his issue.
Martinelli got injured and he needs game time to get his rhythm back, but he’s not been getting much. Jesús is playing with the knee injury but with Havertz and the ones around him in this form, I can’t see a regular spot for him. He’s an ideal Saka backup though.
If Jesus is injured (and I suspect he is being asked to play through pain) then why are we risking potentially irreparable damage to a multi million dollar asset by playing him rather than having medical experts identify and address the issue?
Form rules at the moment and Trossard just keeps scoring. I have confidence in Martinelli, he’s come back from bad form before, and we need him in the wing rotation. Less so Jesus with injuries and style and bringing in, say, Isak means Jesus slides to the ESR/Viera tier IMO. Rotational. That said, a return of on-form Jesus? Yes, please, that’s the best problem to have.
What I like about having Trossard and Martinelli is that whichever one plays, does not need to pace himself to last 90 minutes. Just play flat out for 60-70 minutes and the other one can come on. I’m sure Martinelli will get his form back at some point, and the pair of them will be terrifying right backs everywhere!
That’s a crock of shit regards Jesus. He came on again today and looked good. He’s been carrying a knee injury all season. He’s not a player that’s prolific in front of goal but play him alongside a finisher and he’s a great part of the team.
The bonus rating sums it up. We have to be proud of the improvement and growth this season no matter what happens. We also did fantastic business in the market with Raya, Havertz and Rice. I am also sure Timber will be amazing for us next season.
Trossard gets +1 for helping Tomi in defense as well.
We are going to win the league. COME ON
I feel like a mug, but I’m pleased about it. 4 years ago, when Arteta was starting up, Pepe was dog shit, I wanted him out. I am so glad I have been proven wrong. Regardless if we win the league or not, he’s been a revolutionary manager, he’s changed everything for the good. I booked annual leave from 26th May to go on a family holiday, my Mrs has asked me to change it incase there’s a bus parade. She’s even allowed me to miss her cousins wedding on the 19th to go see the last game. A few… Read more »
How about Kane winning anything at all? 🙂
Havertz gets a ten from me for insensing the Arsenal haters. Deary me are they upset over the penalty.
Never a pen but yes, the rest of the world will never let anyone forget it….
So beautiful today it was sort of boring at times. Bournemouth was much better than I expected and battled to the end. Still the gap in class was obvious from the kick off. it is hard to score in this game, but some of the misses were surprising Bournemouth as hard as they played were somewhat lucky the score wasn’t 4-0 at halftime. and yes it was a penalty and it was a foul on Raya. This is what var does. it calls into question clear and obvious fouls because the review can make a judgement about the degree of… Read more »
A Tomi appreciation comment! One more great and reliable performance. What a player to have in the squad. I think our defence is in a very good place for the future with Timber coming back and Kiwior having very good games this season.
I thought Saka was pretty poor by his standards today. His end product was not there at all but he looks more confident with the penalties now which I like. Big Gabi needs to relax a bit too, he gets so wound up in these important games. A bit of ice in the veins wouldn’t hurt.
I’m really nit-picking though, we’re so good at the minute. Love this squad.
Knew that Partey/rice combo would take us to another level. And Partey still isn’t fully fit. Completely unlocks Odegaard and Rice further up the pitch and they don’t always have to come all the back because he still just about covers the ground himself.
“Whatever happens” being code for “when we come second”. I’m with you Andrew. Don’t care where we finish. Winning the league must always be seen as a bonus with city, the wage bill, the agent slush fund, the 115 discrepancies and Peps magic doctor. Love this team. Proper football team. It’s weird how many fans would rather city win when we are doing the league the service of shedding light on iust how predictable and stupid the league has become. I saw the game versus west ham at Xmas. I watched us lose the league 5 months before it ended.… Read more »
I can understand your concern about the 115 charges brought against what is tantamount to a sovereign state, but If we could afford to buy the calibre of player that City have, we would do it, so I don’t see why you’re moaning about a ‘wage bill?’ Chelsea have spent more than anyone in the Premier League, we spanked them 5 v 0 and they’re mid table. It’s what you spend your money on that is more important. Roman Abramovich and Alisher Usmanov bought into Chelsea and Arsenal respectively in the early noughties and both were sanctioned over their links… Read more »
Havertz was great as were many others, just wish we could have buried at least a couple more of the chances to increase our goal differential though of course the only way we will win the title is for Man City to lose or tie once (most likely one at Spurs) and we win our remaining so to overtake us on goal differential they would need to win the other two games by 11 or 12 goals combined at a minimum (assuming we win our two remaining ones by 1 or 2 goals each), of course we hopefully can win… Read more »
Finally got to watch a full game this season (feels like the first) live from NZ, 1130pm kick off on a Saturday night is about the best chance I get. Man that felt like it was gonna be one of those days in the first half, the boys all just a bit rushed when it came to shoot, or set yourself to shoot. Kinda love Havertz for dragging his leg for the pen just to make sure someone (saka) could gather themselves before actually having a crack and then he calmly rolled it in so we could get something from… Read more »
Rice seems like a snip for 105!! Havertz is making a difference for us
He shoots…. he scores!!!!
The value of Trosser – who just latches onto any stray box-ball and smashes it in first time, (and with either foot!) – cannot be under-stated, especially at this stage of the season. He has repeatedly done this and taken the pressure off the team at key moments.
Bargain of the decade!
What looked like becoming precarious in the 2nd half became comfortable in the end. Superb first half performance, slightly iffy 2nd. Sound familiar? We should have been out of sight after 45 minutes but allowed Bournemouth back into it. Gabriel had a mare (his disallowed worldie being a tad ironic) but he’s been so good this season he’s allowed one bad game. Havertz bought the pen for our opener in homage to that master of the art of the deliberately trailing leg: Jamie Vardy. Bournemouth’s disallowed goal has me conflicted: Yes, Raya was nudged but Saliba was also shirt pulling,… Read more »
This was the best, most complete team performance I have seen in decades, maybe ever. Absolutely electric, absolute poetry. This is a beautiful team.
Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tomiyasu, Partey, Rice, Odegaard, Saka, Trossard, Havertz.
An unvelievable squad. And here is the thing: I believe Bournemouth showed up and are a good squad, but we were so good they never had a chance. Just brilliant.
This is one of the best squads I have ever seen.