Bournemouth ended Arsenal’s unbeaten start to the Premier League with a 2-0 victory at the Vitality Stadium.
The Gunners contributed to their own downfall, going down to 10 men after 30 minutes when William Saliba was sent off for pulling down Evanilson near the halfway line. After Ryan Christie broke the deadlock, Arsenal then conceded a late penalty, scored by Justin Kluivert, to seal the defeat.
Here’s what the managers, players, pundits, and analysts had to say about the game…
Mikel Arteta on a third red card of the season proving costly…
A very sad evening, very disappointed with the result, it was a really tough context again. It’s hard enough to play here 11 against 11, we made life very difficult for ourselves again, playing for 60-70 minutes with 10 men but I cannot fault the effort of the players, how much they wanted, how much they tried. But in this league, it’s the third time it’s happened in eight games, it’s just an accident waiting to happen, it’s too difficult.
Source: Arsenal.com
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Andoni Iraola on his side’s win…
For us it was an important game after losing the last one against Leicester so we had to recover. Today we started very well. There was the red card and from then it was tricky as they are still a threat from set plays, free kicks. But we had the patience and ended the game well The advantage they have at set plays is they are taller than us so we had to find another way to make a difference. Today it worked and it was important.
Source: BBC Sport
𝐁𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝟐-𝟎 𝐀𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐥
Arsenal suffer their first loss of the season, leaving Man City as the only unbeaten team in the Premier League.
Bournemouth secured just their second ever Premier League victory against Arsenal (D2 L11). 🍒#BOUARS pic.twitter.com/1Wwu97hq6u
— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) October 19, 2024
Declan Rice on a poor performance….
The matter of the fact is, we’ve kicked ourselves in the foot three times now this season in eight games. We’ve got away with it twice, home to Brighton, away to City, but not all the time luck can go your way. In the end tonight, Bournemouth kept probing. I’m proud of us as a group of players, to believe we can win even with 10 men. But the naivety of it is, we’ve got to stop making mistakes. We’ve got to have 11 players for 90 minutes. Such a big month coming up, we’ll stick together. It’s never going to be perfect, but we’ll stick together in the right direction.
Source: Sky Sports
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Bournemouth midfielder Lewis Cook on his side’s win…
Massive. They are a top top team, the football they have played in the last few years. But the lads dug deep, controlled the game in big spells and got the win. We did a lot of work in the week. They have a lot of attacking players that can change the game. The red card helped so we could take control of the game.
Source: Sky Sports
Bournemouth (1.80) 2-0 (0.64) Arsenal
— The xG Philosophy (@xGPhilosophy) October 19, 2024
Bournemouth goal scorer Ryan Christie on his goal…
Delighted to score, it’s been a while. I was due one. Nice for the team when it’s from a worked set piece. The boys had spoken about it at half time and then it was about transferring it to the subs when we came on, try and get everybody in the right position. It’s a brilliant touch around the corner from Justin, I’m not sure how I’m on the end of it and not him but I’m not complaining.
Source: Sky Sports
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Arteta on Saliba’s red card…
I don’t know, it’s a split-second decision you have to make, the striker is on his back. Obviously, he doesn’t expect the ball and then suddenly it’s coming his way. He’s made a decision and that’s it, the referee has decided to give a yellow and then a red card.
Source: Post-game press conference
1 – In his 157th appearance in a match in Europe's big-five leagues, William Saliba has been given a red card for the very first time. It's also his first red card in 93 games for Arsenal in all competitions. Bath. pic.twitter.com/97kkE9rVMe
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 19, 2024
Theo Walcott on Arsenal with 11 men…
I never felt Arsenal were in control at any point in the game. They looked really sluggish coming out of the blocks, it felt for me like they were coming off international duty, that was the issue, like they didn’t have enough time to work together. They were second to everything, they didn’t look like they were hungry to get a result, like they could get to Bournemouth and go through the motions at times. That’s when Bournemouth smelt they could get something out of this game.
Source: Sky Sports
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Jamie Redknapp on PGMOL chief Howard Webb listening to the VAR feed from the stands
Howard Webb is not trying to communicate with the officials from the stands. He’s watching the game. Anyone who thinks that, to have the audacity, or ego, to think ‘I am going to influence the game’, we’re talking nonsense now to even question that. He is at the game and listening to the audio. But he can’t turn round to the referee. We’ve got VAR and everyone there looking at it why would he even dream to get involved?
Source: Sky Sports
5 – There were 5 red cards shown to players in the Premier League today, the most on a single day in the competition since 29th August 2015 (also 5). Trigger. pic.twitter.com/jd1ecKKiTm
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 19, 2024
Rice on the travelling support…
These supporters were full in the stadium even before we came out to warm up, singing our names, chanting and then we go down to 10 men; the support, you feel that, you hear their voices and you want to do so well for them and perform for them because they pay their well-earned money to come and watch us and to travel down here so to not win is disappointing but we thank them and we have two big home games, Shakhtar and Liverpool, so I know they will be behind us for that.
Source: Arsenal.com
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Arteta on bouncing back…
Well, again, using the pain we are feeling at the moment for Tuesday [against Shakhtar Donetsk], that’s the best way to do it. Not feeling sorry for ourselves, how it happened again three times in eight matches and we are missing our captain and one of our best players and Jurrien and this and that. That’s not going to take us anywhere – leave the energy, these boys deserve it because the way they try and want it, we go again on Tuesday.
Source: Post-game press conference
Harry Redknob is a big fat Spud who lives at an address he could only have afforded by doing stuff that’s not legal.
I think its a really uncomfortable and difficult piece of footage for the PGMOL to explain away… and for it just to be brushed off as ‘.. he’s watching the game..’ Okay, if he is watching the game, and he is solely watching the game, then why does he need a direct feed the VAR? Also — they conveniently didnt mention the fact he is literally using his phone messaging a mysterious someone after the referee had already brandished the yellow card, he holds his hand to his ear, and then the whole fiasco unfolds. Now, I am not insinuating… Read more »
“Its fucking crazy that conflicts of interest and bias exist in the worlds of Finance, Insurance, Business.. but they just magically disappear when it comes to football?” Exactly this! When I accepted a job with the prison service there’s a list of other jobs as long as both my arms I’m not allowed to have as a side income. It came as one of several parts of my employment contract I had to sign when accepting the post. Shit, I’m not even allowed to pull a pint in a bar as it somehow constitutes conflict of interest. But these are… Read more »
Yeah exactly. And whats so mind numbing now is how the supposed sports journalists are completely complicit in the gas lighting. None of them had a shred of courage to ask what was going on… well in fact Carragher did and then he tweet magically disappears.. This cosying up to the PGMOL by Sky Sports and how they have become their little soap box to justify their corrupt decision making is so grotesque as well. The journalists should be holding them to account to explain these types of things, but they dont, they’re in fact doing the opposite, curtailing any… Read more »
Accentuated every now and then by a tug at the heart strings media piece about some grass roots ref who perseveres in spite of nasty parents and no reward as if that has anything to do with Howard Webb and his dodgy unaccountable organisation.
When are we going to win this league?
We’re eight games in ffs.
asap
Whenever we decide to not self sabotage.
Probably not this year. I don’t believe that we can win this league without a world-class striker.
That’s lazy thinking
Not really. It’s an opinion backed up by data for the most part. We won’t win the league when our main striker started last year as a replacement for Xhaka. This will be probably get a thumbs down, but I’m quite content with a second placed finish and a couple of decent cup runs. It’s lazy, biased and delusional if anyone thinks that we’re better than Manchester City. We’re not.
People keep saying about how this system can create chances and have a good enough conversion rate. But I believe with a different system and a more clinical striker, we can win more goal with less chances. Every time I look at the big chances we missed from open play, I just sigh.
We need a winger more
I think that we need to strengthen the left and central positions. Martinelli and Trossard aren’t going to win us the league.
Whenever we decide to take our chances in difficult game such as this one.
Martinelli scores that chance ant is a different outcome.
Same way Harvetz and Saka missed their chances against Brighton @ 1:1 and 1 man down.
We need to take our chance. At the end of the season, these fine margins always come to bite us.
Last year, after City getting is taken from them.
And the year before that.
Not this season, 100% sure
If the current referees have anything g to do with it – never.
I can buy today’s red for Saliba, but you won’t see a Trossard or Rice again this season for other teams. Just like Martinelli’s double yellow.
Well that’s what it takes. To beat Arsenal. Red card, penalty, injuries to key players. We are mortal ladies and gentlemen! All the haters can do their victory laps this week, go ahead, we don’t care. Any team can lose a game at any time in this sport. We haven’t lost one in, what, 180 days before this? Yeah that’s our team.
The first 30 minutes were fine. Not great, not awful, a lot like Leicester and Southampton. Throw all the cliches at it you want: not out of first gear, haven’t got started, whatever you want, but the truth is the team is using that time to decode the opposition, wait for their energy to drop a bit. It’s game management. Then once we find the soft spots, we tighten like a boa constrictor until something pops. That process was slower to unfold today because of all the changes, and then interrupted with the red card. That’s the story. Moments like… Read more »
Also Iraola is a top manager
The stream I was watching panned in on Howard Webb as soon as VAR got involved on the Saliba red card. Man was sitting on his phone typing with fucking earphones in and all I could think of was “yeah that’s him off!”
Saw the same and though the same. Oh and Jamie Redknapp can go do one.
And he SAT on a chair with a Bournemouth logo – I don’t know maybe it’s nothing but it was so symbolic
Martinelli!
What a shame.
Let’s keep some perspective. Still early in the season. This team will react well and go on a long winning run.
Arteta needs to be brave and start Nwaneri. As it really is the chicken and the egg .. as I’m bored of hearing how can we play a youngster that has no experience and can’t be trusted .. if the kid ain’t getting games then he can’t be trusted .. play him Arteta he is the closest we have to Ødegaard .. and if he is is back in 2 weeks then his absence has been a big fat waste of bedding in his understudy in his position … when the team line up is announced I look for that kids… Read more »
Merino was demonstrating his stats of being a low pass completion player again. I’m still not convinced he is an Arsenal player.
He started his first game for us yesterday?????
He hasn’t convinced so far but it’s still early days.
Since Wenger Arsenal have always been 2 players away from great, back then it was always a CM plus, a (winger, striker, CB, RB), now they (we) are a striker & a left winger away, its the same sh!t on repeat for the last 15 years. Probably now more than ever is the most frustrating time to be a supporter, & we all know Liverpool under Slot or Chelsea will win a trophy before Arteta.
5 reds in the league yesterday and Salibas was the 5th. Howard Webb wanted the headlines this weekend. Let’s put the pgmols stamp on the league this weekend im sure he said. It shouldn’t have been changed to red. The momentum of Trossards pass was dying. It wasn’t going to skip into the space ahead of Evanilson, it was going to sit down, slowing down Evanilson and allowing White to get close. The commentators also got the timing of Raya wrong. They said he was already backpedaling before saliba had been turned. It isn’t true he was still coming out… Read more »
As many have said we are far from Man City still. We have no striker, and only 1 of our attacking force would make it into another top squads team, Saka. I love Trossard and believe he is amazing, giving us a creative spark similar to Alexis without as much chaos. However, when you look at everyone else we have they are just OK, ultimately we are picking up rejects from Man City, Chelsea, etc. and expecting them to improve our team which is a pipe dream. I typically don’t like to speculate on transfer/backroom business as there is much… Read more »
Bournemouth played the game they wanted. We just didn’t find a way. A bit of spark from Jesus was what we needed. I can understand why Nwaneri didn’t START. It was a physical and cagey start with a lot of in game decisions to be made. Rice covered for Calafiori and Partey also sometimes dropped in to become his RCB. Not sure Nwaneri has the seniority or experience to make such a decision. I’m pretty sure he would have come on in the second half. Perhaps that’s what Mikel is alluding to by the early red cards, that he usually… Read more »