Bournemouth 2-0 Arsenal: William Saliba sent off as Gunners suffer huge setback
The Premier League is a ruthless competition and there are only so many times that Arsenal can survive playing in it without 11 footballers on the pitch. Already this season they had escaped with 10 men for long spells against Brighton and Manchester City, but that run of luck ended in painful circumstances here, against an impressive and dangerous Bournemouth side.
On this occasion, Mikel Arteta’s players were forced to play for more than an hour with 10 men, following a straight red card shown to William Saliba. Bournemouth, energetic throughout, eventually found a way through, scoring decisive goals through Ryan Christie and Justin Kluivert in the second half.
Arsenal’s unbeaten start to the campaign is over and their disciplinary problem is becoming increasingly damaging, even if Saliba’s red card was different to those picked up by Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard earlier in the campaign. The fact remains that Arsenal have received red cards in three of their eight league matches this season. That, clearly, is not how you win the Premier League title.
“We are gutted because we had to play in that context again,” said Arteta. “It was even more difficult than the previous two that we have faced this season. To do it with 65 minutes [remaining] with 10 men at this level, it’s just an impossible task. It’s an accident waiting to happen.”
Saliba turning point
A secondary blow is that Saliba, who had never before been sent off in 157 league appearances in France and England, will now be unavailable for next week’s meeting with Liverpool. Arsenal will also be without the injured Martin Odegaard, and there are doubts over the fitness of Bukayo Saka after he did not feature here. Suddenly, these are challenging times.
It was an evening that could be divided into two separate parts: before Saliba’s red, and after. The game that took place in the opening 30 minutes was largely unremarkable, more attritional than aesthetically pleasing, with few chances for either team. A battle, rather than a dance.
Then came the pivotal moment, which stemmed from a disastrous error by Leandro Trossard. The Arsenal forward inadvertently played the ball over his own defence and into the path of Bournemouth’s Evanilson, who would have had a free run at goal if he had not been brought down by Saliba. “It is a split-second decision you have to make,” said Arteta of his defender.
Arsenal were unable to recover from William Saliba’s first-half dismissal Credit: Reuters/Ian Walton
It was hardly the most violent of fouls but it seemed clear that Saliba had denied Evanilson a clear chance to score. In front of the watching refereeing boss Howard Webb, match official Robert Jones upgraded the initial yellow card to a red following a visit to the pitchside monitor.
Social media being what it is, there were some online concerns that Webb had somehow intervened in the decision. The cameras cut to him during the process which resulted in Saliba’s red, and he was evidently listening intently to an earpiece. Telegraph Sport understands, though, that Webb is only able to listen to the refereeing communications network, rather than speak on it himself.
Amid all the anger in the away end, there was time for some humour, too. “10 men again, 10 men again, olé, olé,” sang the Arsenal supporters as Arteta reorganised the structure of his team.
Inevitably, Arsenal came under sustained pressure following the loss of Saliba. Yet it was Arteta’s side who created the best chance of the game with around 20 minutes remaining. A mistake by Bournemouth goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga resulted in the ball falling to Gabriel Martinelli, but the Brazilian’s finish was weak. “A big moment,” admitted the Arsenal manager.
Arsenal are usually the masters of set pieces but here they were undone by a corner. The delivery was fizzed in low and then diverted into the path of Christie, who finished emphatically.
That opening goal was the least Bournemouth had deserved for their intense and aggressive performance, with wingers Antoine Semenyo and Dango Ouattara both causing frequent problems for Arsenal’s defence. Evanilson’s movement was also a consistent source of bother for the visitors.
“It was a mature win because it is a tricky situation [playing against 10 men],” said Bournemouth coach Andoni Iraola. “The red card changes the game. We had to control the game, attack but not lose our minds. Even with 10 men, on set plays and free-kicks they can be a threat. Luckily for us we took the benefit of having one man more.”
For Iraola, a childhood team-mate of Arteta’s, there would have been extra satisfaction at the identity of his goalscorers: both players came off the bench to impact the game. Kluivert’s goal came around 10 minutes from the end, converted from the penalty spot after another Arsenal error — this time by Jakub Kiwior — led to David Raya fouling Evanilson.
Credit: The Telegraph