Rice Dazzles As Arsenal Defeat Bournemouth in Five-Goal Thriller
By the Editor
England International Declan Rice put in a solid display as Arsenal clinch a crucial 3–2 victory over Bournemouth to move further clear at the Premier League’s summit.
Mikel Arteta’s side knew they had to be at their best to defeat a well-drilled Bournemouth side and that was the case on Saturday evening.
Bournemouth caused the Gunners plenty of issues but Gabriel took centre stage during a tense first half for the Gunners at the Vitality Stadium. An awful blunder from the Brazilian center back gifted Evanilson the opening range
Gabriel gifted the ball to Evanilson with a miscued pass and the striker made no mistake as he slotted beyond Raya from close range.
Six minutes later, Gabriel turned from villain to hero shortly as he powered home an equaliser.
However, it was Rice who stole the show after the restart as he produced two composed finishes in the space of 16 minutes to offer Arsenal breathing room.
Ødegaard teed up the Englishman on the edge of the penalty area and his ruthless low drive completed the turnaround, easing nerves in the away end at the Vitality Stadium.
Still wearing his scoring boot, Rice was in the right place to finish off an intricate move down the right flank from Saka in the penalty area.
Bournemouth proved they are no pushovers as a wonderful strike from Eli Junior Kroupi later in the game ensured it was a tense dying minutes for Arsenal.
Arsenal held on to secure the precious three point and they are now six points clear of second-placed Aston Villa and seven ahead of Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola’s team will able to close the gap when they face managerless Chelsea on Sunday.