At Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth got the better of 10-man Arsenal, who had been undefeated all season until William Saliba received his first-ever red card.
The France international Saliba was substituted within the first thirty minutes after he tripped Evanilson near the center circle due to needless pressure caused by a poor ball from Leandro Trossard.
The title-chasing Gunners have already recovered from similar circumstances against both Brighton and Manchester City, but this time the task was to do it for more than 60 minutes.
With 20 minutes left, replacement Justin Kluivert flicked on Lewis Cook’s low pass into the top corner to break their resolute resistance. Ryan Christie then blasted superbly into the top corner after a cunning corner into the penalty area.
After David Raya pulled down club record £40 million summer acquisition Evanilson, nine minutes later Kluivert calmly converted his penalty to end any chance of an Arsenal comeback.
The Cherries had lost the previous four league games by an overall score of 13-2, therefore victory put an end to their miserable run in this match and raised them to 10th in the standings.
However, this was a serious setback for Arsenal, who lost the chance to take the lead before leaders Liverpool play Chelsea tomorrow at 16:30 BST, after winners Manchester City’s visit to Wolves at 14:00.
