Bournemouth 2 – 0 Arsenal – Match report

We lost 2-0 away to Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday evening and played the final 60 minutes of the game with ten men after William Saliba was sent off.

Ryan Christie scored from a Bournemouth corner in the 70th minute before Justin Cluivert made it 2-0 from the penalty spot.

defensive focus

Lewis Cook saw Riccardo Calafiori head a free-kick deep before David Raya passed the ball to Alex Scott as we tried to play out from the back, but Antoine Semenyo shot over the bar as the hosts increased the pressure early on.

We struggled to create any meaningful chances in the first 30 minutes when Raheem Sterling's cross eluded all players and went past the post.

except for 10 men

Everything changed in the 28th minute when Leandro Trossard played the ball back to Raya. Evanilson appeared ready to intercept the pass and Saliba pulled it back, prompting our centre-back to be initially shown a yellow card by the referee.

But VAR asked Rob Jones to look at the incident again on a monitor and subsequently changed Saliba's penalty to a red card.

Gabriel exposed his body to a shot from Semenyo before we had the chance to take the lead when Sterling's cross was deflected wide of the goal by Mikel Merino, making his first start for us.

Mikel Arteta brought Jakub Kiwior into the game in the 36th minute to sort out the defense, with the player making way for Sterling.

Raya is busy

Semenyo continued to look dangerous for Bournemouth but Raya was equal to his efforts, even missing one of his crosses and getting up quickly to deny Marcus Tavernier on the rebound.

Thomas Partey volleyed the ball over the crossbar and we went into the break goalless after a lively first half.

Fight in the second half

Semenyo touched the ball over the bar from close range following a Dango Ouattarra cross early in the second half, before Kai Havertz headed Declan Rice's corner over the bar at the other end.

Semenyo's cross was then headed wide by Tavernier before we made our second change in the game with Gabriel Martinelli coming on for Trossard.

Our substitute almost immediately changed the game when Kepa Arrizabalaga played the ball straight to Merino, who found Martinelli, but his shot was aimed straight at the Bournemouth goalkeeper.

We immediately paid for the missed opportunity when a Bournemouth corner found its way to Christie, who deflected it into the top left corner.

Semenyo shot the ball high and wide of goal after another Bournemouth corner fell to Marcos Senesi and we then went up a hill to climb the ball when Evanilson deflected a pass from Kiwior who got a penalty after he tried to get the ball past Raya. Kluivert pushed the ball into the bottom right to make it 2-0.

Ten minutes before the end, Gabriel Jesus and Ethan Nwaneri came on for Kiwior and Merino.

The former fought his way into the box and went down late on, but the referee didn't see enough to award a penalty.

what comes next

UEFA Champions League football returns to N5 when we host Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday at 8pm. Then we're back in the thick of the Premier League on Sunday at 4.30pm with the visit of Liverpool to the Emirates Stadium.