Arsenal remain glued to the top of the Premier League table after recording a 3-0 win over Bournemouth at Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
Having dominated the first half, the Gunners seized the lead just before the break through a Bukayo Saka penalty – and their control continued after the interval, with Leandro Trossard and Declan Rice completing the rout.
As it happened
Mikel Arteta made no attempt to play down the importance of Saturday’s clash when he addressed the media on Friday, and the atmosphere in N5 was fitting of a match with the potential to decide the destination of the prized silverware.
Arsenal dominated the first half, and were rewarded for their efforts on the stroke of half-time when Kai Havertz was felled inside the box by Mark Travers. Bukayo Saka stepped up to slot home from the penalty spot; his composed effort beating the goalkeeper to keep the Gunners at the top of the table.
Embed from Getty ImagesBournemouth posed a threat throughout the second half, with Dominic Solanke and Justin Kluivert both coming close to threatening David Raya’s clean sheet – but it was Leandro Trossard to find the back of the net next, curling home from inside the area.
The visitors thought they’d clinched a goal back through Antoine Semenyo as the afternoon wore on, but with Solanke found to have fouled Raya in the buildup, the goal was swiftly disallowed – paving way for Declan Rice to bury Arsenal’s third goal deep inside stoppage time to wrap up the win.
Post-match reactions
The lineups
ARS: Raya; Tomiyasu, Gabriel, Saliba, White; Rice, Partey, Ødegaard; Trossard, Havertz, Saka
BOU: Travers; Ouattara, Senesi, Zabarnyi, Smith; Christie, Cook; Kluivert, Scott, Semenyo; Solanke
