Arsenal suffer their first loss of the season and then William Saliba’s purple card in the first half gives Bournemouth the lead

For once, a piece of indiscipline from a guy that Arsenal may no longer be able to compensate for with the stubbornness of 10. The third red card in his season so far, all of that has come before the fiftieth little. , caused their first defeat, a 2-0 loss to Bournemouth that ended an unbeaten streak on the road in 2024.

Arsenal, by hook or by crook, have prospered without his creative interest over the last age and slightly. They even made you think in the first half of the date that they could manage without Bukayo Saka as well. Take William Saliba out of the mix with a walk date (Leandro Trossard forced his team-mate to choose from a fable of unpleasant options with a clumsy follow-up move) and it was more for Mikel Arteta’s side, stifled in the final quarter . of a rude present.

In a slow tone and with the visitors struggling to gain any momentum in the penalty phase, with half a date on the clock it gave the impression that this could be a match determined by an error. Without a doubt, that turned out to be the case. Leandro Trossard, whose clumsiness had left Arsenal feeling down to ten men in the final stretch at the Etihad Stadium, completely missed a move back from his own half into David Raya’s effort.

If Saliba had had a month to think, he would have concluded that nothing could be worse for his team than a date without their megastar centre-back these days and the full 90 without him against Liverpool later. Ben White used to be masked; Although he didn’t succeed, Saliba can cede enough field to the forwards and still regain ownership. Although Evanilson had scored, in 11 against 11 Arsenal could only score two, right?

However, there was a wrong time to evaluate his decisions. Saliba stuck out an arm. Rob Jones’ preliminary review used to be yellow. VAR Jared Gillett urged him to take every other look. Two and a few months of the Premier League season were played. Two and a half hours in which Arsenal were brilliant.

For a quickie, you’ll want to feel Etihad’s muscles contracting. Gone is Raheem Sterling, whose modest technical decline in recent years has been accompanied by a precipitous decline in his excellent fortunes. Bukayo Saka’s surprise gives him anticipation to start, creates his team’s best anticipation in the first half, but he still has to pay the fee as the man on the opposite flank made a wrong move. Jakub Kiwior adjusted impressively, but a handful of chances found their way into Bournemouth’s approach. Raya was lively to make amends and then made a try in the first half before Antoine Semenyo fired home early in the second.

In reality, Arsenal have not been as cautious as they had been in holding on to Brighton, let alone the reclusive Manchester Town. They will know that fighting problems when a person is unwell is not as worthy a racial product as it was in the month before Pep. The Gunners were willing to take the step. Gabriel Martinelli’s creation almost provoked immediate praise, but after giving the ball away, Kepa Arrizabalaga made amends with a strong left.

Moments later, the goal came as you suspected it might happen in this narrow, exhausting aspect: a suite piece. Reject Gabriel’s high header this hour despite that. Instead, Bournemouth left it on deck, Lewis Cook rolled the ball towards the same post and Justin Kluivert flicked it back to the edge of the pitch, where Ryan Christie was charging forward to miss the sweetest of moves. beyond Raya. .

Any hope of a Reiss Nelson-style counterattack was quickly extinguished. Jakub Kiwior, who seemed tired of happiness since the month in which he was re-elected as right centre-back, did not prepare a back movement well. Evanilson won the ball from Raya, took the hit and won the penalty. Kluivert transformed.

It was the first away league defeat in 2024 for Arsenal. Given the circumstances, it is most likely that they should no longer be the reason for any admirable situation. After all, they were without their best midfielder and were ahead even before their best defender exited the contest. Any ground they lose to Liverpool this weekend will also be able to make up later on Sunday. Arsenal remains firm within the team. Given the hardships they have inflicted on themselves, this is a cruel and wrong feat.