Bournemouth 0-3 Arsenal: Martin Odeegard bags a brace as Gunners go top of the table

It was Boxing Day, in 2019, the last time Arsenal came here for Premier League match and the diagnosis that afternoon made for rather grim reading: a 1-1 draw meant they had won just one of their last 11 games. 

At the halfway point of the campaign, they sat in the bottom half. The first match of his tenure afforded Mikel Arteta only a few crumbs of optimism.

Last night, Arsenal provided perhaps the most brutal, brilliant illustration of all that has changed and they have learned over the intervening 32 months.

Midway through the second half, Arteta turned to his bench, he slapped his thighs and roared in frustration. By that point, Arsenal were 3-0 and heading to the top of the table. The team’s identity, eroded by Christmas three years ago, has been recast in the image of their manager. Restored through a new spine – William Saliba, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus, upon whom this victory was built.

Odegaard, Arsenal’s new captain, put Arsenal on course for victory with two early goals, the first created by a simply astonishing run by Jesus, their new talisman. Victory was sealed in the second half by Saliba, their new defensive general, who netted his first ever Arsenal goal with a sumptuous curling effort from the edge of the box. It could have been even sweeter, had Jesus not strayed offside before scoring from Odegaard’s through-ball. That would have capped another superb individual display.

But no matter, really. Arsenal’s perfect start to the season goes on. The last time they won their first three matches of a league season? 2004, when they were still Invincible. Steady on.

No wonder the away enjoyed themselves, exhausting their jukebox of chants and even serenading Granit Xhaka. Yet another indication of just how different life now looks in north London.

Pity Bournemouth. For Scott Parker’s side, this was a long, long evening in the middle of a horrible run. Their reward, after defeats by Manchester City and Arsenal? A trip to Liverpool.

Even Jurgen Klopp’s side will have to go some way to enjoy a match this one-sided.

It is an illustration of the stability around Arsenal these days that Arteta could afford to name the same starting XI for a third successive match. No Arsenal manager has had that luxury at the start of a season since 2003.

There is a certain irony in that consistency, too, because Arteta has overseen such a ruthless, radical overhaul of the Arsenal squad since his first game in charge. Here.

That ended 1-1 and of Arteta’s lineup that day, only Bukayo Saka and Xhaka started here. Aaron Ramsdale was in the Bournemouth goal. Of all the players who have arrived since, has anyone had such an immediate and devastating impact as Jesus?

The Brazilian netted his first competitive goals last week and he was mobbed by team-mates immediately after Arsenal took an early lead here. No matter that the goal was finished by Odegaard, who tapped into an empty net from inside the area. No matter that it was Gabriel Martinelli’s shot that forced Mark Travers to parry the ball towards danger.

The chance came solely from the tenacity and trickery of Jesus. It was a ludicrous piece of play, frankly.

Particularly given Ben White had appeared to cede possession when he spooned the ball into the air near halfway.

But Jesus brought it down 40 yards from goal, bouncing Marcos Senesi to the floor in the process. He drove towards the box, riding the challenge of Jefferson Lerma and then skipping beyond Adam Smith.

Somehow, as more defenders swarmed, Jesus slid a reverse ball into the path of Martinelli. All in the space of seven seconds. The Brazilian had a hand in Arsenal’s second, too. Odegaard’s second. This time, though, his assist was down more to good fortune than ingenuity.

White, overlapping down the right flank, played a low cross into the box. It ran to the feet of Jesus, whose touch rolled perfectly into the path of his captain. Odegaard swept the ball into the net and Arsenal were in control.

There were only 11 minutes on the clock but already it seemed damaged limitation was Bournemouth’s best hope.

To think there was a time when Arteta was accused of building a dull team, one frozen by rigidity and predictability.

Odegaard’s early double meant Arsenal had scored eight Premier League goals after just three hours and 11 minutes. Last season, it took them nearly 12 and a half hours to reach that point.

Vulnerabilities remain, of course, but it is harder to hurt a team who keep the ball – and look so threatening with it.

By half-time here, Bournemouth had enjoyed only 27 per cent of the ball. Parker’s side had failed to register a shot, or a touch in the opposition box. No wonder that, for almost 10 minutes before the break, Saliba’s name rung out from the away end. Without breaking a sweat, the defender had kept Kieffer Moore at arm’s length and completed 63 passes. Out of 63. Behind him, meanwhile, Ramsdale soaked up the evening sun. The goalkeeper won’t have had many more comfortable 45 minutes at this place.

Parker responded by making a double change – Lewis Cook and ex-Arsenal academy product Jaidon Anthony were sent on.

They did come close to pulling a goal back – Marcus Tavernier’s corner was cleared off the line by Gabriel. Anthony sent a free-kick just wide.

But, any hopes of a turnaround were extinguished when Xhaka laid the ball off to Saliba.

What came next was summed up by Oleksandr Zinchenko: the left back sunk to his knees and covered his face in disbelief.

Jesus deserved a goal, too. He thought he had it when he dinked the ball over Travers before VAR intervened and Bournemouth’s bleeding was halted, briefly.

But that wouldn’t dent the enthusiasm in the away end. The chanting and giddiness continued, unabated. They’ve had worse trips down here.

Follow Sportsmail’s live blog for this evening’s Premier League clash between Bournemouth and Arsenal.