Declan Rice shrugged off a knee injury to extend Arsenal’s advantage at the top of the Premier League to six points with a come-from-behind 3-2 win at Bournemouth.
A rare Gabriel Magalhaes error gifted the Cherries an early opener through Evanilson on Saturday, but the Brazilian quickly redeemed himself to level.
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“We made it harder for ourselves with the first goal,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said. “[But] I love the character of the team and the character of Gabi [Magalhaes]. We have grown over the years.”
Rice had been a doubt after missing Tuesday’s 4-1 demolition of Aston Villa due to knee swelling.
The England international returned to the starting lineup and doubled his tally for the season with two composed finishes either side of the hour mark.
Eli Kroupi’s fine strike gave Bournemouth hope, but Arsenal comfortably saw out the closing stage to move seven points clear of Manchester City, who host the managerless Chelsea in their game in hand on Sunday.
There had been a glimmer of hope for Pep Guardiola’s men when Arsenal conceded after just 10 minutes.
Gabriel mishit his attempted cross-field pass towards Jurrien Timber and presented the ball to his compatriot Evanilson, who slotted past David Raya for his first home goal of the season.
Arsenal’s towering centre-back netted on his first start for nearly two months against Villa in midweek, and showed his eye for goal once more to equalise within six minutes.
Gabriel pounced to slam home Noni Madueke’s deflected cross for his 20th Premier League goal since he joined the Gunners in 2020 – seven more than any other defender.
Rice has also turned into a useful source of important goals since being pushed into a more advanced role this season.
He was perfectly picked out by Martin Odegaard to slot in from the edge of the box to put the visitors in front on 56 minutes.
Bukayo Saka came off the bench to create Arsenal’s third as Rice swept home his cut-back.
“With the attacking threat that they have, we knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Rice said after.
“To pick up the three points after not the best first half from us means it is a big win.
“The main thing is three points and keep building momentum.”
Bournemouth remain without a win, stretching back 11 games to October 26.
However, only five sides have scored more Premier League goals this season than Andoni Iraola’s men.
A stunning strike by Kropi from long range set up a nervy finale.
But Arteta’s men held firm to take another big step towards ending their 22-year wait to lift the Premier League title.
Villa beat Forest, while West Ham ’embarrassed’ at Wolves
Aston Villa beat struggling Nottingham Forest 3-1 at their home fortress to ease the pain of their midweek mauling by Arsenal, leapfrogging Manchester City into second place in the Premier League.
Ollie Watkins’s strike on the cusp of half-time gave Unai Emery’s side a deserved lead, and John McGinn scored twice in the second half, either side of a Morgan Gibbs-White goal for the visitors.
Villa’s 11-game winning streak in all competitions was brought to a shuddering halt with a 4-1 defeat at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday, raising doubts about their ability to maintain a title charge.
But their impressive record at Villa Park remains intact; they have now won 11 straight matches there since a 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace in August.
Villa boss Emery told Sky Sports that his players and coaching staff had held a meeting after their chastening loss to Arsenal.
“I am so happy,” he said. “We had to recover our energy and our confidence. Here, at Villa Park, the energy we create was really important.
“Forest are competitive. After the Arsenal match, we met the players and staff: how we are doing this season, how we are feeling, how we needed to keep the same consistency as before, how we needed to be together and strong.”
Villa started brightly on a bitingly cold day in Birmingham, but struggled to make their dominance count in a tepid first half.
But the in-form Watkins broke the deadlock in the closing moments of a half in which they enjoyed nearly 80 percent possession.
The England international received the ball outside the area from Morgan Rogers and slammed home for his fourth goal in three games.
McGinn doubled Villa’s lead in the 49th minute, side-footing home from a Matty Cash cross.
Villa appeared to be cruising, but Forest were back in the game in the 61st minute courtesy of a fine finish from Gibbs-White, who chipped past the diving Emi Martinez.
The home side were gifted a third goal in the 73rd minute, when Forest goalkeeper John Victor inexplicably vacated his goalmouth to try to reach a long ball from Youri Tielemans, even though there were defenders nearby.
Scotland midfielder McGinn collected the ball and remained cool, sidestepping Victor and stroking the ball into the empty net with his left foot from well outside the area.
The win took Villa to 42 points, one ahead of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, who host Chelsea on Sunday.
Forest, who have now suffered four straight league defeats, remain one place above the relegation zone, four points clear of West Ham, who were thumped 3-0 at the bottom-of-the-table Wolves.
“The first half was embarrassing, and I have to apologise to the fans; this is not what we want to show,” the beleaguered Hammers’ manager Nuno Espirito Santo said after.
Elsewhere, the second-bottom Burnley lost 2-0 at Brighton and Hove Albion.
