By Luke Hastings
Two goals in two minutes saw Arsenal to victory against AFC Bournemouth.
First half goals from man of the match Mesut Ozil and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain saw Arsenal win the game 2-0.
Despite a late surge on Petr Cech’s goal, the Cherries failed to create enough chances to truly test the Gunners.
The first half started slowly, with both sides trying to get a foot hold in the game. Mathieu Flamini could have seen red after a poor challenge on Dan Gosling early on, but the referee produced only yellow.
The game didn’t see any chances of note before Ozil brilliantly converted Giroud’s knock down with a right-footed half-volley into the roof of the net after 22 minutes.
Arsenal were boosted by the goal and struck again two minutes later when Ramsey played in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on the right hand side, who struck the ball low and hard across goal off the inside of the post to score.
The Cherries failed to create too many chances in the first half, but Harry Arter did test Arsenal ‘keeper Petr Cech with a left footed strike from outside the box. Cech brilliantly tipped the ball over the bar in the 26th minute.
Bournemouth could’ve got one back just before half-time, but Adam Smith couldn’t get his first touch right and was smothered by Petr Cech, after he arrived late in the box.
The visitors went into half-time with a well earned 2-0 lead. The Cherries needed to do better and create more in the second half.
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, with the Cherries mostly shooting from long range with no success. Arsenal passed the ball well and their defence weathered a late storm from Bournemouth to secure the points. Cech made two smart saves in the 91st minute to keep the clean sheet and the Cherries will be disappointed they didn’t test the Arsenal stopper more.
Cherries boss Eddie Howe spoke after the game, pointing out that Flamini was lucky to get away with his early tackle on Gosling: “I felt it was a red card. It was two footed. You can’t do it. It was a pretty simple decision. It would have had a huge baring on the game. Dan could have been seriously injured on another occasion.”
On the game, he said: “It was a slow start from us which was totally against what we wanted. I felt they dominated possession. We found it hard to get good pressure on the ball.
“I felt we reacted really well (to their goals) and dominated the second half. One goal would have made them get nervy but it didn’t come for us.
“We had a lot of the ball in the final third. We didn’t work their goalkeeper enough. There were a lot of positives and we will take these things into the remaining games.”
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger also spoke after the match, he said: “I felt we had a strong start. It was important for us not to concede a goal. It was an important three points for us. Bournemouth is a good team and they maintained physically from the first to the last minute.”
On goalscorer Mesut Ozil, he said: “He’s become a very important player. He added fighting attitude today. He’s a top, top player.”
The Gunners boss disagreed with Howe’s assessment of the Flamini tackle, he said: “I didn’t see it like that (how Howe saw it). I didn’t see how high his feet were. He was fouled first, he was first on the ball and went for the ball, not the player. It would have been harsh.”
Bournemouth face Stoke City at home next week, where they will be looking to bounce back from the defeat. Meanwhile, Arsenal face title rivals Leicester at the Emirates stadium.
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