Arsenal 1 – 2 AFC Bournemouth
Did Arsenal collapse under the pressure of sky-high expectations from their home crowd?
They started slow but managed to grab an early goal. Yet, they couldn’t hold onto the lead. A sudden defensive lapse cost them dearly—leaving Mikel Arteta’s side with a painful blow to their confidence just days before a crucial Champions League showdown.
On Saturday at the Emirates, Arsenal suffered a 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth in the Premier League. Despite taking the lead through Declan Rice, second-half goals from Dean Houssen and Evanilson sealed a comeback win for the visitors.
In their previous meeting this season back in October, Arsenal lost 2-0 at Bournemouth’s home ground. Looking to settle that score, the Gunners were instead handed another bitter defeat.
The Premier League title may be out of reach, but the fight for a Champions League spot is still on. While Arsenal are still in a strong position, they missed an opportunity to strengthen it further.
With 35 matches played, Arsenal have 67 points from 18 wins and 13 draws, placing them second in the table. Manchester City, in third, trail by just 3 points.
Newcastle United (62 points) and Chelsea (60 points) both have a game in hand and are pushing hard from fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Beyond the league standings, Arsenal’s biggest concern now is the upcoming Champions League semi-final. Having lost the first leg 1-0 at home to PSG, they must win in Paris on Wednesday to stay alive in the competition. Losing to Bournemouth at this stage is the last thing they needed.
Arsenal had some early chances—two shots from Rice and one from Gabriel Martinelli—but none of them were on target. Bournemouth, on the other hand, had only one off-target shot during that period.
The first real opportunity came in the 31st minute when Leandro Trossard’s header was dramatically saved on the line by the Bournemouth goalkeeper.
Just three minutes later, Arsenal broke through. Martin Ødegaard delivered a perfect pass inside the box, where Declan Rice calmly rounded the keeper and slotted home with a clinical finish to put Arsenal 1-0 up.
At home, and winless in their previous two matches, Arsenal held their lead deep into the second half. But in the 67th minute, things began to unravel. A long throw-in from Semenyo found its way into the box, and young Dean Houssen rose high to head in the equalizer.
It was Bournemouth’s first shot on target from six attempts—and it silenced the Emirates.
Fuelled by confidence, Bournemouth pushed forward and found the winner in the 75th minute. Evanilson applied a delicate touch to finish a dangerous attack, beating David Raya despite the goalkeeper getting a hand on the ball.
Remarkably, Bournemouth only had two shots on target all game—and they scored both. It was a historic night for the visitors. They claimed their first-ever away win against Arsenal and, for the first time in Premier League history, defeated the Gunners both home and away in a single season.
Bournemouth now sit 8th in the table with 53 points from 35 matches.
