Arsenal saw their greatest weapon in set-pieces become their biggest weakness as Bournemouth scored twice from dead-ball situations to complete a 2-1 comeback win at the Emirates.
The Gunners were leading 1-0 through Declan Rice’s opener on his 100th Gunners appearance – but Bournemouth used Arsenal’s greatest strength against them twice in eight second-half minutes.
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Rice rounds Kepa to put Arsenal ahead
Dean Huijsen’s header from a long throw brought Bournemouth level, and Arsenal were further stunned when Evanilson headed home at the back post from a corner which Marcus Tavernier flicked on.
VAR checked Evanilson’s winner for a potential handball from the forward but the clearest replay deemed the ball missed his hand. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, however, disagreed: “I’ve just seen a few images, it looks different to the decision. But they made that decision.”
It was the fourth set-piece goal conceded by Arsenal in their last three Premier League games at home – and it helped earn Bournemouth’s first ever win at Arsenal.
David Raya can’t stop Dean Huijsen’s header as Bournemouth equalise at the Emirates
The result is a huge boost to Bournemouth’s European hopes as they jumped up to eighth in the Premier League table, after Fulham’s loss at Aston Villa earlier in the day. Should the Cherries stay there and Manchester City win the FA Cup, Andoni Iraola’s side would likely qualify for the Europa Conference League.
But for Arsenal, it’s no wins in three as preparation for their biggest match of the season against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League semi-final second leg on Wednesday night.
“It didn’t create positive momentum but it’s created a lot of anger, frustration, rage, disappointment – let’s use all that for Wednesday,” said Arteta to Sky Sports after the game.
WATCH: Bournemouth’s DOUBLE set-piece hammer blow
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Dean Huijsen equalises for Bournemouth at Arsenal
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Evanilson bundles one in at the far post to give Bournemouth the lead at Arsenal.
Arteta on more points dropped: We didn’t kill them
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta to Sky Sports:
“We’ve lost points here to Palace, Fulham and Brentford – it’s something we need to improve.
“We had so many opportunities, we had big spaces, opened them up but we needed to score and we didn’t. And when you defend the box like we did and concede two goals from set pieces at this level it’s very difficult to earn the three points.
“We didn’t kill them, we gave them hope and they scored from two set-pieces and it became very chaotic.”
‘Arsenal on verge of a really poor season’
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Jamie Redknapp and Gael Clichy discuss Evanilson’s controversial winner for Bournemouth against Arsenal as the debate goes on whether it struck the striker’s arm or his hip.
Sky Sports’ Jamie Redknapp:
“Mikel Arteta will be terrified now of not only going out of Europe but not finishing second. If Man City were going to wobble this year the only team set up to win it were Arsenal.
“If they don’t finish second and don’t win a trophy it ends up being a really poor season because we’ve spoken about how bad Man City have been – but they can still win a cup and finish second. That’s a decent season. Arsenal have to finish second.”
Analysis: Arsenal’s worries are MORE than just set pieces
Sky Sports’ Sam Blitz at the Emirates Stadium:
Arsenal’s latest collapse against Bournemouth now means 21 points being dropped from winning positions. Only four teams have managed more – two of them are playing in the Championship next season and another is often billed with the term ‘Spursy’.
Nine of those points have come since the beginning of April, including in each of their last three home games. And in those three Emirates encounters, all of the points have been dropped via set-piece goals.
Yoane Wissa, Eberechi Eze, Dean Huijsen and Evanilson all found the net via set-pieces and a major concern for Arsenal is how all four set-piece goals are different.
Wissa scored via the second phase of a corner, Eze scored from a clipped corner to the edge, Huijsen nodded in a long throw, Evanilson was left alone at the back post.
But Arsenal’s woes go further than that. For the second Premier League game in a row, David Raya was caught off his line. Jean-Philippe Mateta found the net, Evanilson spurned a similar chance for Bournemouth.
“In many situations we have given the ball away, that is nowhere near the standard,” said Mikel Arteta. Arsenal’s issues are not just limited to set-pieces. There are build-up, resilience and goalscoring ones too. They are becoming easy to play against at the worst possible time.
Iraola: We needed this win
Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola to Sky Sports:
“I like the game overall. I think we had chances. They scored but we played well. The key was the set-plays in the second half. In the end in these close games to make the difference with the set-plays was the key to take the three points.
“At half time, we were talking about a good first half. They (Arsenal) are going to have chances but we were playing well, having a lot of the ball, taking good positions.
“It was a matter of doing the same thing, pushing a bit more, and the subs also helped us. Antoine (Semenyo) coming from the bench was a good spark at that moment when both teams were tired.
“We needed this one because we know the schedule we have. Arsenal, Villa, City, you have to get points where you don’t expect. We missed a few chances recently and we needed it this time to go to our side.”
