Arsenal were second-best against Bournemouth on Saturday but managed to secure a 3-2 win and extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table.
Gabriel Magalhaes went from zero to hero as he gifted Evanilson the opener before equalising himself, before Declan Rice bagged a brace against the run of play to put the Gunners in control.
Eli Junior Kroupi scored a wondergoal to set up a grandstand finish but Mikel Arteta’s men held on to increase their advantage in the title race to six points over Aston Villa, with Manchester City hosting Chelsea on Sunday.
Bournemouth may be win-less since October but they had no intention of making things easy, brilliantly pressing and frustrating the visitors straight from kick-off at the Vitality Stadium.
The early pressure paid off after 10 minutes when Gabriel passed across his own box straight to Evanilson, who simply stroked the ball into the back of an empty net.
The Brazil centre-back was quick to make amends for his horrific howler, smashing in the equaliser just six minutes later after some brilliant footwork from Noni Madueke.
But that was Arsenal’s only highlight of the first-half, with the Cherries very much the better side, though they lacked a clinical edge, something they were ultimately punished for.
David Brooks missed a great chance to score early in the second-half and just moments later Rice fired the Gunners ahead with a superb effort from the edge of the box following some great build-up play from Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Odegaard.
Arteta surprised many with his team selection, dropping Bukayo Saka to the bench and just minutes after coming on, the winger showed his manager what he’d been missing, brilliantly assisting Rice’s second goal.
The Gunners thought they were in cruise control but Kroupi had other ideas, firing a scorcher past David Raya with just 14 minutes left but in the end, Arsenal just about held on to the three points.
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