After being sidelined with knee swelling and missing Arsenal’s crucial tie with Aston Villa, Declan Rice was selected to start by Mikel Arteta, who could not offer any guarantees about Rice’s involvement for the trip to Bournemouth prior to Friday’s training session.
Rice bagged his first brace in the league for Arsenal, drifting into the box from midfield to slot home two chances and help The Gunners to seal another three points.
However, it was a far from ideal start for the visitors when Gabriel gifted Evanilson possession with a wasteful pass under no pressure, and the Bournemouth striker made no mistake with the finish.
The reliable centre-back had already relinquished the clean sheet single-handedly, but he would be able to atone for his error.
Six minutes later Noni Madueke glided past Antoine Semenyo and drove into the box from the right wing. He evaded several Bournemouth defenders, who then swarmed the area to block two fierce Arsenal strikes, but couldn’t prevent Gabriel from netting the leveller and redeeming himself.
Two goals from Rice gave Arsenal some breathing room, delivering the goods.
This was met with a firm reply by substitute Eli Junior Kroupi, who made an instant impact with a rasping drive from range which David Raya couldn’t get to.
The travelling Arsenal faithful were in for another nervy finish on the road in the Premier League.
Yet, Arsenal managed to deny Bournemouth another win, and it will be all eyes on Manchester City’s clash with Chelsea on Sunday as the league leaders seek to maintain their six-point cushion at the summit.
Here are four things we learnt from Arsenal’s win:
Madueke sent out another reminder of his quality
Bukayo Saka made a rare substitute appearance in the Premier League at Bournemouth, still providing an assist on a plate for Rice’s second and Arsenal’s third of the evening.
It was a necessary rest for Saka amid the recently condensed schedule, and one that may have been met by reluctance from supporters and the manager alike last season, irrespective of his relentless load.
As a result of acquiring the likes of Madueke in the summer, the risk of dropping Saka has been lessened. The former Chelsea man’s display for his 67 minutes showed why he had attracted interest from Arteta in the first place.
His exquisite finish and second goal against Club Brugge was the last time Madueke made a real impact, and the last time he was given the nod to do so. Although he missed a chunk of this season through injury, he is yet to score a Premier League goal for Arsenal.
He couldn’t get his name on the scoresheet in Bournemouth, but he was by far Arsenal’s brightest spark for the majority of the game, giving Adrien Truffert a difficult test through his unpredictable and agile wing play.
Madueke’s work down the right set up Arsenal’s important opening goal, and Gabriel Martinelli, in comparison, had a less fruitful affair on the opposite flank.
Glancing over to the fourth official’s board to see his number go up, he would have been disappointed not to see out the ninety minutes, but it seemed sensible to take him off.
Nonetheless, a straight-swap in the front line for three perfectly capable forwards epitomised why Arsenal’s attacking options are as dense as they have been for many years.
Rice’s two goals in the second half eased the pressure for Arsenal and gave them the upper hand heading into the latter stages.
He is not ordinarily a main source of goals in this regard, but his deliveries from set-pieces and overall stability he provides when playing, noticeably strengthens Arsenal’s chances of creating clear-cut chances.
As doubts over Rice’s fitness loomed large over the fixture, there were calls for Rice to be rested, but also the acknowledgement of how indispensable the England international is to the way Arsenal function in all areas.
Particularly in his performances away from home, the spine has been stabilised by Rice’s presence, and he offers a multifaceted skillset that the qualities of his teammates or replacements are simply unable to match.
The knack for scoring after half-time
Arsenal scored their 12th league goal inside the opening 15 minutes of the second half, this time courtesy of Rice’s first. This is more than any other team in the top flight this season.
It could be the wise words from their more experienced boss and a time to reset amongst themselves, while it has little relevance with the proclaimed impact of ‘finishers’ coming off the bench.
Dealing with situations when they concede first has been difficult up until the halfway stage of this Premier League campaign, but they managed to overturn their early mishap.
But, catching opponents off guard after the interval and starting the second half well has put them in good stead to put points on the board consistently, and avoid a costly tally of draws.
This has been a double edged sword, though, since Arsenal often find themselves having to cling on as their opponents seek to conjure a late response.
The Gunners did give themselves daylight by scoring three goals, but they almost fell victim to that same scenario again of holding on to another win uncomfortably in stoppage time.
Sharing goals amongst the squad
To the dismay of supporters and perhaps those that helped bring him in from Portugal, Viktor Gyokeres continues not to meet his supposed remit of finding the back of the net.
Arteta still values his role in the side in opening up spaces for others and wrestling with defenders, and Gyokeres did barge through the Bournemouth defenders in the lead-up to the second goal.
The solution to having more threat in front of goal was not all down to getting him through the door in the summer, and Arsenal’s successes have been predicated on having various goalscorers.
Gabriel and Rice scored against Bournemouth, and goals seem to be everywhere you look in the Arsenal squad, especially with how their depth in the attacking department has evolved.
In Bournemouth, the combinations and smart work executed by the forwards supplied the significant assists for others to convert the decisive finishes.
It will be no surprise if this trend continues and sees Arsenal finally prevail over their title rivals.