Arsenal came back from a goal down against AFC Bournemouth to register a draw for the debutant manager, Mikel Arteta, who has taken the reigns of Arsenal as permanent manager on last Friday. Eddie Howe’s men secured a vital point from Gunners after they failed to register to win at Vitality Stadium.
Pierre Emerick Aubameyang cancelled out the opener scored by Dan Gosling in the first half. The goal from the Gunners’ captain came against the run of play and saved the day for the Spanish manager on the first day of in charge at Vitality Stadium.
Post this match, Arsenal enters the second half of the season being in the bottom half of the table. Arsenal have won just 1 out of 14 games across all the competitions. However, Mikel Arteta sounded optimistic after the game. He said;
“I am pleased with a lot of things I have seen and a lot of things we practised that happened.
“I am not happy we have not won the game but happy overall. In terms of attitude, desire and commitment it was better than I expected.”
Just after the half an hour mark, where the majority of the game was dominated by AFC Bournemouth, Dan Gosling rippled Bernd Leno’s net with an incisive finish. Moreover, Joshua King came close to double the lead for Eddie Howe’s men but Bernd Leno parried the ball away into safety.
Once Arsenal went behind AFC Bournemouth, their response was encouraging. Arsenal started to attack more than they did in the first half. Particularly, Mesut Ozil started to create problems and had almost an assist unless Aubameyang curled it over the bar.
However, the relentless attack from Bournemouth opened up the field for Arsenal which eventually led to Aubameyang’s goal. A deflected pass from Nelson was collected by the Gunners’ skipper and was completed with a fine cutback shot.
Post-match, EddieHowe opined;
“I thought the players gave everything to win the match. It was one of those games that ultimately could have gone either way at the end – they had chances, we had chances. But I think we’ll take the point and then try and build on it”.
Scoreline: Arsenal 1- AFC Bournemouth 1
Goalscorers: Dan Gosling(35′), Pierre Emerick Aubameyang(63′)
