It really seems like nothing will stop the Gunners. Arsenal have pulled off yet another miraculous comeback as they overcame a 2-goal deficit to beat Bournemouth 3-2, pushing them ahead of City for another week.
Arsenal have done exactly what they needed to do in the three weeks since their loss 3-1 to Manchester City: win.
Despite finding themselves down and out on many occasions since the City loss (Aston Villa, Leicester City, etc.), the Gunners have never given up and were able to overcome multiple deficits and rugged defenses to win four games on the bounce. And this game against Bournemouth symbolized Arsenal’s new-found perseverance perfectly.
The Gunners were far and away the better team against Bournemouth as they completely destroyed the Cherries on the stat sheet with 31 shots vs. Bournemouth’s 4, 9 on target vs. 4, 81% possession to just 19% from Bournemouth, nearly 7X as many passes as the Cherries (740 vs. 189), an 88% passing accuracy to Bournemouth’s abysmal 57%, and 17 corners to just 1.
Simply put, Bournemouth wasn’t even on Arsenal’s stratosphere and should have been destroyed 7-0 (as another team was this weekend), but they got super lucky with how and when they scored their goals.
Philip Billing’s strike in under 15 second after kickoff was so unexpected and jarring that the Gunners were forced into playing “catch-up” football literally the entire game, while Marcos Sensei’s header from Bournemouth’s ONLY CORNER was pure luck and made Arsenal’s players rush everything.
Yes, it was a great header as he slipped past his marker (Thomas Partey) and guided the ball past Aaron Ramsdale, but there was no way that goal should have put Bournemouth up 2-0 at the hour mark. Arsenal must have missed 10 chances before the goal, and another 10 had been saved by Neto.
Regardless, all I’m saying is that Thomas Partey’s 6-yard box volley just four minutes later was more than deserved, while Ben White’s equalizing goal just ten minutes later proved this Arsenal side just refuses to give in. I don’t want to keep going back to a game that happened over three weeks ago, but losing to Man City in the manner they did should (and would) have killed off a title charge of any Arsenal team in the past 10 years.
Mikel Arteta has instilled such a strong resolve discipline, responsibility, togetherness, loyalty, and determination into this side that even when they lose huge matches to title rivals, they still can pick themselves up and get right back into the title race with four straight wins.
So, with that in mind, Reiss Nelson’s 97th minute winner should have come as no surprise to anyone watching.
In what has to be a career-defining (and perhaps altering) moment for the 23-year-old former Arsenal academy player, Nelson masterfully controlled and volleyed up Bournemouth’s final clearance on Arsenal’s 17th and final corner of the game.
With a single motion on the edge of Bournemouth’s box, Nelson half-volleyed a rocket with his weaker foot through eight players (both on his own team and Cherries defenders) and into the far side of Neto’s goal to not only win the game and send the Emirates into pandemonium, but also give Arsenal a direct path at the title.
Now on 63 PTS and possessing a five-point lead over City (58 PTS), Arsenal has six matches to solidify their position before the all-decision and all-important April 26th rematch against Manchester City. If Arsenal can win against Fulham, Crystal Palace, Leeds United, Liverpool (which will be difficult), West Ham, and Southampton, then their chances at their 14th topflight title will all come down to a great performance (a win or draw would suffice) against the reigning champions.
Of course, beating Liverpool at Anfield and taking 15 points from teams like Crystal Palace, Fulham, West Ham, Leeds, and Southampton will be extremely difficult as their Round of 16 Europa League tie against Sporting Lisbon (who is currently 4th in the Portuguese league) is also sprinkled into that fixture list, but this will be the defining test of their season. The test all would-be champions must go through.
If they can come out of it unscathed, then they will be champions of England once again.
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