Bournemouth 2-3 Arsenal: A Declan Rice double and a goal from Gabriel Magalhães secured another important win for the Gunners, denying them a comeback from the hosts.
Arsenal overcame a late scare from Bournemouth to sit at the top of the Premier League with a six-point lead. Declan Rice’s two second-half goals played a key role in the Gunners’ come-from-behind victory to take the lead 3-2.
Bournemouth took an early lead when Evanilsson pounced on a wayward pass as Gabriel Magalles headed home. However, Gabriel quickly recovered and equalized for the visitors six minutes later.
Bournemouth seemed to be pulling away from the game thanks to Rice’s motivation, but Eli Junior Crupi’s stunning strike just minutes after coming on as a substitute brought the game to a tense end. Arsenal had to do everything in their power to secure victory and extend their lead at the top.
Mikel Arteta was boosted by Rice’s start after missing Tuesday’s 4-1 win over Aston Villa with a knee injury. Bukayo Saka has probably been placed on the bench with an eye on Thursday’s home game against Liverpool.
For Bournemouth, supporters were given one last chance to watch Antoine Semenyo play. The Cherries star is expected to join Manchester City for £65m in the coming days, but it could be after Wednesday’s game against Andoni Iraola’s Tottenham.
Here are six talking points from Vitality.
read more: Why Kai Havertz will be left out of Arsenal’s Bournemouth squad after Declan Rice’s phone checkread more: Former Arsenal transfer target appears to have RATS thrown at him by angry fans during game against Barcelona
1. Gabriel’s Six Minutes of Mayhem
It may be 2026, but Gabriel is still handing out Christmas presents. Just 10 minutes had passed and, after Arsenal had survived Bournemouth’s strong start, the Brazilian completely misjudged a routine pass and passed the ball straight to Evanilson on the edge of the penalty area.
Perhaps unable to believe his good fortune, the striker had the simple task of breaking the deadlock by slotting the ball home past a scrambling David Raya. It was an uncharacteristic mistake for Gabriel, and he looked up at the sky in frustration.
But the Arsenal star needed just six minutes to make amends. Good play from Noni Madueke on the right side of the box led to a scramble for the goalmouth, and the ball eventually fell into the hands of Gabriel, who calmly scored with his left foot.
This time he looked up at the sky with relief. Fast redemption.
2. Arteta furious after avoiding Semenho’s sending off
With just over 30 minutes remaining and Semenyo risking a red card and Semenyo’s farewell appearance looking set to end sooner than expected, it’s unclear what will happen. The Ghanaian international received a yellow card in the 26th minute for a foul on Piero Hincapie.
Moments later, Arsenal rushed forward and Semenyo chased down Declan Rice, who grabbed the midfielder’s arm. To his credit, Rice got up, but his pass was intercepted and he claimed Chris Kavanaugh that he was interfered with by Semenyo.
Arteta agreed, gesturing to a fourth official. The Arsenal manager then had a heated argument with Bournemouth’s coaching staff over the decision not to present Semenyo with a second yellow.
What Arteta didn’t like was his players’ lackluster use of the ball. The Gunners made a number of unforced errors in the first half and went into break level with the hosts, who had not won a match since October.
3. Comeback completed
Finish from rice? Victor Gokeres’ hold-up play? Martin Odegaard fired? Choose from his amazing goals for Arsenal.
Gökeres needed to meet a long ball from Julian Timber and the Swede did just that. Given Marcos Senesi’s grappling, he could have been given a penalty. Odegaard picked up the pass inside the penalty area and waited long enough for Rice to arrive on the edge of the box, as the Arsenal captain showed great awareness.
And in typical Rice fashion, he produced a brilliant first strike, sending the ball past Djordje Petrovic. The comeback was complete, but the three points were not decided.
4. Another game begins in search of Gokeres.
It’s been more than two months since Gokeres scored in Arsenal’s exhibition game. Sure, the £64 million man missed four games with injury, but he did enough to break the record with just seven goals this season.
Gokeres will argue that he hasn’t been given enough chances by his teammates, but they are clearly still adjusting to playing together. But with Gabriel Jesus, substituted after 67 minutes, nearing full fitness and Kai Havertz also nearing a return, the former Sporting Lisbon star may be starting to fear for his position.
Should Mikel Arteta drop Victor Gokeres? Please share your thoughts in the comments section.
5. Double the amount of rice
It would definitely be scary to see Bukayo Saka appear when they are at a disadvantage with 2 wins and 1 loss. It didn’t take long for the substitute to become effective, diving inside Adrian Truffert and drawing the Bournemouth players to him inside the penalty area.
But Saka was unselfish and left it to Rice, who lived on acres of space. The 26-year-old made no mistake and scored his first two Premier League goals of his career.
6. Bournemouth’s last hope
Despite all the talk about Arsenal’s quality on the bench, Bournemouth had plenty of firepower, especially in Crupi. The teenager is renowned for his vitality and a goal like this won’t do him any harm.
Just two minutes after being introduced, Crupi collected the ball about 20 yards out and confidently fired a shot towards the goal, scoring his sixth league goal of the season. Raya’s footwork was questionable, but it didn’t take anything away from her hitting.
Suddenly, a sense of tension filled the air on the south coast. Yet Arsenal kept their cool, picked up maximum points and started 2026 with a hard-earned victory.
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