Arsenal lose at Bournemouth after Saliba purple – 4 issues Mikel Arteta realized
Arsenal fell to their first defeat of the season losing 2-0 to Bournemouth with William Salbia’s first-half red card giving the Cherries a huge advantage.
The Gunners were tipped to extend their four-game winning run in all competitions at the Vitality Stadium this evening, but Mikel Arteta’s game plan was flipped on its head after Saliba was sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity.
A miss-timed pass from Leandro Trossard saw Evanilson through on goal leaving the French defender with no choice but to bring him down. While he initially got away with it, an on-field video review from referee Jarred Gillett saw him produce a red meaning Saliba will miss the Gunners’ crucial clash with Liverpool.
After the restart, Bournemouth could taste a goal, but had to wait 25 minutes before a corner kick routine straight from the training ground saw Ryan Christie grab the winner from inside the box.
Just nine minutes later, Justin Kluivert cooly converted a penalty to double Bournemouth’s lead after Evanilson was brought down in the box by substitute Jakub Kiwior.
Arteta and co now host Liverpool at the Emirates next Sunday in a huge early-season title match. Here are four things the Spaniard learnt from tonight’s loss.
Arsenal can’t cope without Salbia
Forget the result, the biggest blow for Arsenal is the fact they will be missing Saliba for a crucial early-season showdown against Liverpool next weekend.
For a while Arsenal’s biggest asset has been the solid defensive pairing of Saliba and Gabriel but now Arteta will be forced to rely on either Jakub Kiwior or Ricardo Calfiori to fill in alongside the Brazilian next week.
The Gunners have only conceded seven times in the league this season with Liverpool the only side who can better them, so it’s a huge setback.
They need Bukayo Saka
The Gunners’ creativity going forward is often dominated by Saka and his absence against Bournemouth was there for all to see.
When a team goes down to 10 men set-pieces are usually their best bet at scoring, but without Saka’s delivery and the presence of Saliba in the box, they struggled to make the most of them in the second period.
Kai Havertz can’t do it on his own
Arteta may have taken a risk by sticking with Havertz as his first choice number 9 this season, but his four goals in the first eight Premier League games have proven it was the correct call.
However, they can’t solely rely on him. The Gunners registered 0 shots on target in the first hour of the game, and while they were at a disadvantage for half of that it still isn’t great.
If Arsenal want to finally get over the line and lift the Premier League title this season those around him need to step up while players like Saka and Martin Odegaard are out injured.
Arsenal need to learn how to see out games
It’s not the first time this season that the Gunners have failed to see out a game. They were down to 10 men when they conceded a late equaliser against Manchester City last month and they’ve failed to get anything out of tonight’s game.
Even when you’re a man down conceding a goal from a corner and a penalty like they did tonight can easily be avoided, but Arteta’s men succumbed to the pressure.
