Arsenal’s unbeaten start to the Premier League season ground to a shuddering halt in a shock 2-0 loss to Bournemouth, leaving them third in the standings with leaders Liverpool and second-placed Manchester City yetto play this weekend.
Ryan Christie’s brilliantly-worked goal and a Justin Kluivert penalty gave Bournemouth a home win against 10-man Arsenal, after Gunners defender William Saliba was flashed a straight red card.
With Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka already missing through injury, Arsenal lost Saliba on the half-hour mark when a yellow card for bringing down Evanilson was upgraded to red after a VAR review, and this turned out to be the pivotal moment of the game.
“I’m proud of us as a group of players, because to keep fighting and believing, that we believe that we can win, even with 10 men. I thought we played really well even with 10 men,” Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice said after his team’s third red card in eight league games.