Bournemouth vs Arsenal
1-2
Mikel Arteta will be pleased with the performance of his young side on Monday night, as the Vitality Stadium isn’t an easy place to go, despite the Cherries’ struggles in recent weeks. They all battled well and played some mesmerising football at times, especially in the first half which saw the boys in red and black get no where near a rampant Arsenal.
In the 5th minute, before Bournemouth had a chance to settle, Arsenal built up a lovely attack which saw Martinelli play a reverse ball to the overlapping Saka, who fired the ball hard onto the underside of the crossbar and in. Who knew Saka had that power in his left boot! It was an excellent start from the Gunners who were dominating in every sense of the word, in the opening exchanges. This theme continued, with Arsenal’s young energetic players overloading Bournemouth’s midfield, leading to a beautiful 22 pass goal with every outfield player involved. Eddie Nketiah rounded the move off, with a “bread and butter” finish for the clinical striker. Arteta had us playing some scintillating football at times in which a low confidence Bournemouth couldn’t cope with, as every time the away side came forward they looked like scoring. Going into the break it was 0-2 to the Gunners, but maybe a bit unfortunate to not be heading the the changing rooms with more. Eddie Howe needed a big halftime team talk to stay in the game.
In the second 45 minutes, Arsenal started slower with Bournemouth taking advantage, keeping the ball a bit more and trying to create chances. However, the away side still looked comfortable and slowly but surely came back into the game, playing some one or two touch football again. The first real big chance of the half fell to Ryan Fraser who headed over after the Cherries got the ball back through a collision between Martinez and Mustafi. The German defender was in some discomfort and had to be stretchered off after a solid display. The home side continued to push and almost got one back as a result of Martinez not been commanding in the penalty area, missing the ball from a corner, leaving the goal gaping. After this, Arsenal tried to take the sting out of the game by keeping possession, which was working up until the 94th Minute where a hit and hope cross was met by Surridge, who made no mistake to make it 1-2. The Gunners stood strong and held on for a deserved win, ended 1-2, booking their place in the 5th round away to Portsmouth.
Player Ratings
Emilio Martinez
Made a good save in the first half from Harry Wilson, however after this didn’t look very comfortable. Almost made a disastrous mistake when he missed the ball from the corner. 6/10
Hector Bellerin
Some more good minutes in his journey back to full fitness. Did everything asked of him when defending and made some decent runs forward. Solid display. 7/10
Shkodran Mustafi
Very solid, good in the tackle and marked Solanke well. Much better passing, played a couple of brilliant across field switches to Martinelli. Shame about his injury. 7.5/10
Sokratis
Glad to have him back with our centre-backs dropping like flies. Defended well throughout, didn’t allow their strikers to have a sniff. Was the main leader at the back. 7/10
Bukayo Saka
He may not like playing out of position at left back, but he is incredible there. Thankfully he has an excellent attitude and is willing to help the team otherwise we would be struggling right now! Had an amazing game, scored a beauty and got the assist for the second goal. My MOTM. 9/10
Matteo Guendouzi
Was everywhere, winning the ball back and moving it quickly. One of the most complete performances I have seen from him in an Arsenal shirt. Interested to see how Arteta improves him. 8.5/10
Granit Xhaka
Arteta has made him into a new player, was good again last night, barring a couple of sloppy passes. Love the way he drops deeper behind Saka to allow the youngster to get forward more often. Proper team player. 7/10
Joe Willock
Powerful performance from the number 10 position. Reminded me of Yaya Toure at times with his drives through the middle. Created chances well and tracked back when needed. Was a nightmare for the Bournemouth midfield. 8.5/10
Nicolas Pepe
Looked lively throughout, pulling off some mesmerising skills at time. Needed to go at his man more often as he definitely had the beating of him. 6.5/10
Gabriel Martinelli
Provided a nice assist for Saka, made some effective runs which Mustafi was able to pick out. Worked really hard as usual and looked a threat throughout. 7/10
Eddie Nketiah
Linked up the play from midfield to attack really well, his passing is much better than I remembered it. Good to have him to bring some more competition for places and certainly didn’t damage his claim, as he scored a nice goal. 7.5/10
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James Humphreys
Gunners Daily 