Arsenal prolonged their unbeaten run to 17 matches in all competitions after they picked up a 2-1 victory over Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday. The north London outfit were gifted a fortuitous opener after Jefferson Lerma netted an own goal in the 30th minute but the deficit was cancelled before the interval with Joshua King netting on his comeback from a hamstring problem.
However, Unai Emery’s side managed to make a timely comeback with the added pressure in the second period after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang bagged the winner from close range in the 67th minute. The victory continued the Gunners’ unbeaten streak since mid-August and they are currently just one point behind the Champions League positions.
Two things we learned:
Arsenal extend their unbeaten streak: Arsenal have found themselves in difficult situations over the course of the campaign but each time, they have managed to find a solution in the second period to come away with valuable points. The same was the case in the South Coast where they appeared on the backfoot at the close of the first half but they managed to make amends after stepping up the intensity after the interval. Both Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan were guilty of fluffing their chances early on in the second period but that did not cost the team dearly after the former was put on the silver platter by Sead Kolasinac’s pass for an opportunity he just could not miss.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan continues his average run of form: Mkhitaryan has genuinely struggled for consistency since Unai Emery took over the reigns and the weekend game witnessed a similar example with no by-product to his attacking play. Mkhitaryan got himself in a number of good positions during the course of the game but he could not excel with the final delivery or shot, barring the one through-ball for Aubameyang. Moreover, his tracking back was also questionable after letting David Brooks breeze past him before his assist for the Cherries’ equaliser but luckily for him, the performance did not cost the Gunners. Still, Emery may now have second thoughts of playing the Armenian ahead of Mesut Ozil, who was surprisingly left on the bench for the entire game.
Image – Getty
