Arsenal sagged on Saturday evening to a bitterly disappointing 2-1 defeat against Bournemouth.
Mikel Areta rejected the chance to rest his big names, but thought that his risk had paid off when Declan Rice Arsenal brought the lead in the middle of the first half. But after the break by Dean Huijsen and Evanilson, two set-piece goals saw them collapsed to a miserable defeat and the domestic trailers with a headache they did not see.
How the game unfolds
Since Arsenal’s Premier League Dream was brought to bed last weekend, there was a noticeable number of empty seats around the Emirates Stadium, with absent gunners fans interested in a trip to Paris Saint-Germain in the middle of the week for the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Bournemouth recorded an early success in the wings, but the first real hit fell on Rice for 15 minutes. The midfielder stepped back behind him, but was only able to provide his strike about Kepa Arrizabalaga’s goal and not able.
Soon afterwards, Rice saw another half cancellation and turned out to be the greatest attack threat in his team in the first half. He later plunged towards the goal line to force Illia Zabarnyi into an unpleasant but impressive release.
Evanilson should have put Bournemouth in the lead after 25 minutes. Milos Kerkez ‘Box found the Brazilian alone in the middle of the penalty area, but he could not control his header and let the ball fly over David Rayas Bar with Bournemouth’s first touch of the ball in Arsenal Box.
Gabriel Martinelli was next to the width before Kepa went down well to catch Leandro Trossard’s header on the line – the first shot on the goal of the game. However, it did not take long for Rice to finally mark his 100th appearance for the club by rounding off Kepa and putting home in the 34th minute.
Arsenal pushed for a second goal to start the second half, with Bukayo Saka being much more involved in the process. The wing player bubbled far after the restart, and this Miss was punished when Huijsen held things shortly afterwards.
The sought -after Spaniard, who was born in the Netherlands, climbed the highest from a monstrous long throw and nodded past Raya with the first shot of Bournemouth.
Less than ten minutes later, Bournemouth celebrated a second goal from a set piece. A beaten corner found her way to Evanilson on the back post, and his shabby efforts changed beyond Raya and the back of the network.
Arsenal offered almost nothing as a reaction when Bournemouth conveniently excluded the game to have the Gunners in a game that they led in over three years at half -time.
Many managers Mikel Areta had to tip over a 1-0 deficit in the semi-finals of the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday to rest most of his big names and take the risk here.
The boss clearly did not share this feeling and only made two changes to his starting line -up, one of which was enforced. Thomas Party returned from his European lock to start Mikel Merino instead of Mikel Merino, while the injured Jurria -Holz was replaced by Ben White.
It was a considerable risk of Areta. Arsenal’s Premier League Title Dreams are over, but the risk of falling to third place is clearly burdening the boss, who now only looks at three points behind him. The chances that they fall out of the top 5 are almost none, but it is crucial that their place in the Champions League of the next season is not yet certain with three games.
For her part, PSG was in action 90 minutes earlier on Saturday. Luis Enriques Ligue-1 champions made a total of ten changes and fell to Strasbourg to 2-1, but his star names for the second leg on Wednesday.
Mikel Merino stole the headlines as a deputy at the beginning of this season, but Rice did his best to make sure that he brings nod nod to the market the next time.
The midfielder played a Jew Bellingham-like role in which he gave the freedom to fly forward and get into the box, with Leandro Trossard’s rotation free the space required for the tactical improvement. In his 100th appearance for Arsenal, he could have easily scored two or three goals in a dominant show in the first half.
With eight goals in all competitions, this is now Rice’s best season before the net, and he will hope that he will expand this balance in Paris on Wednesday.
With everything that Arsenal’s ability achieved in the first half of the season from SET pieces, they have looked as unable to defend them lately.
A long throw and a corner turned out to be an arsenal end of the arsenal, as it was too often in the past few months. There seems to be a lack of organization for which the Gunners are punished.
The loss of the injured Gabriel Magalhaes, one of the most reliable figures in the box, undoubtedly did not help Arsenal’s cause, but a solution must be found soon. This is a weakness that each side on the planet can use with a little luck.
Bournemouth drove a little more than fifth a little more than two months ago and did his best to find a comprehensive scrap for a place in every European competition next season.
It looked as if your hopes to reach here – Aston Villa and Manchester City will be two tough opponents in the coming weeks – but Bournemouth has left a composed comeback directly on the edge of the European Places.
The eighth could be good enough for a place in the third competition, and there the cherries end the day.
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