Bournemouth 2-1 Arsenal: Player Ratings

With the impending move of Alexis Sánchez looming and Mesut Özil not fit enough to play, the Gunners travelled to the Vitality Stadium without their strongest squad and morally discouraged. Bournemouth took full advantage of that, handing the Gunners a 2-1 defeat in a lacklustre affair. Goals from Callum Wilson and Jordan Ibe were enough to give the Cherries their first win against Arsenal in seven attempts.

The 2-1 win propels Bournemouth to 13th place, while Arsenal now find themselves five points behind 5th placed Tottenham.

Here’s how the players fared:

Bournemouth

Asmir Begovi?: 6/10

Although Arsenal attempted 12 shots, Asmir Begovi? was only forced into making 2 saves. With the likes of Alexis Sánchez and Olivier Giroud not present, Begovi? was allowed to have a quiet outing as Arsenal’s attacking personnel didn’t trouble him at all.

Simon Francis: 7/10

The 32-year-old was in constant battle with Danny Welbeck as the England international looked to stay narrow on the left. Just like his defensive partner, Francis won 10 aerial duels, basically nullifying Welbeck’s aerial threat.

Steve Cook: 8/10

Steve Cook won an unbelievable 10 aerials against Arsenal, basically towering over the 5’9” Alexandre Lacazette. He physically bullied the Frenchman all game, not allowing to him have one shot on goal all game.

Nathan Aké: 7/10

As the left-sided CB of a back three, Aké put in an outstanding performance against Arsenal. The 22-year-old successfully completed 4 tackles (100% success rate), made 8 clearances, won 2 aerial duels and completed 25 passes.

Adam Smith: 6/10

The 26-year-old tirelessly ran up and down the right flank, constantly getting in the face of Ainsley Maitland-Niles. However, the youngster often kept Smith in his defensive third.

Lewis Cook: 6/10

The young central midfielder did his best to stand up to Jack Wilshere and Granit Xhaka. The 20-year-old made 2 tackles, intercepted 2 passes and made 3 clearances in a very hard-working performance.

Dan Gosling: 5/10

The highlight of the Englishman’s game was when he was booked for simulation in the 20th minute. On another day, the 27-year-old could have easily been sent off.

Charlie Daniels: 6/10

The left wing-back had a busy game as the likes of Alex Iwobi and Hector Bellerín were pretty involved on the right. Arsenal’s only goal of the game may have come down his flank, but Daniels acquitted himself adequately.

Jordon Ibe: 6/10

The former Liverpool man had a relatively quiet game, but in the end, he turned out to be Bournemouth’s match winner with a snapshot finish through the legs of Petr Cech.

Ryan Fraser: 7/10

The Scotsman was the Cherries ever-dangerous threat on the counter-attack. After 70 minutes, Fraser whipped in a delicious cross that teased Petr Cech into vacating his line, allowing Callum Wilson to poke into an empty net.

Callum Wilson: 8/10

On his 100th appearance for Bournemouth, Callum Wilson marked the occasion with another routine goal against the Gunners. If that weren’t enough, the Englishman went on to assist Bournemouth’s all-important 2nd for Jordan Ibe.

Substitutions

Lys Mousset: 6/10

The Frenchman came on and added much to Bournemouth’s defensive resiliency. Although brought on as an attacker, the 21-year-old spent most of his time chasing down Arsenal’s midfield.

Marc Pugh: N/A

The Englishman came on to sure up Bournemouth’s midfield. He did just that as he won 100% of his aerial duels and made 1 crucial tackle.

Benik Afobe: N/A

The former Arsenal man was basically brought on to maintain energy up front as he pressed Arsenal’s defensive line.

Arsenal

Petr Cech: 6/10

The 35-year-old certainly had a quieter time at the Vitality Stadium this time than he did last season. In spite of having to make fewer saves, Cech still conceded two average goals a keeper of his stature shouldn’t be letting in.

Calum Chambers: 7/10

In only his 4th league start of the season, Calum Chambers put in his most confident performance yet. There were 2 occasions specifically where the Englishman made last-ditch interceptions to stop clear goals. Chambers’ performance was the only saving grace in another poor team defensive display.

Shkodran Mustafi: 5/10

Rash as ever, the German’s willingness to engage in every aerial duel forced his teammates to follow suit. However, that rashness didn’t translate into competence, as Arsenal found themselves being outfought in every department of the pitch. Throughout the match, Mustafi only completed 60% of his passes and completed 80% of his tackles.

Rob Holding: 4/10

The 22-year-old once again showed his inexperience as he was run ragged all game by Callum Wilson. Holding was dispossessed twice, dribbled past twice and beaten in the air twice.

Hector Bellerín: 6/10

The Spaniard impressively opened the scoring in the 52nd minute after running through on goal via an Alex Iwobi pass. Hector Bellerín has now scored as many goals in his past two league games than he had in his previous 97. But despite his attacking contribution, he still wasn’t able to track Wilson and Ibe for the two goals Arsenal conceded.

Granit Xhaka: 5/10

Another game, another average performance from the £35million-rated man. Xhaka’s job as a holding midfielder is to dictate play and protect his back line, against Bournemouth, he did neither. Today, he only completed 83% of his passes and made 1 tackle.

Jack Wilshere: 7/10

Jack Wilshere was Arsenal’s stand-out performer. While his teammates stood idly, Jack was in the middle of the park forcing the issue. The 26-year-old successfully completed 3 take-ons, created 2 chances and completed 59 passes.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles: 6/10

The explosive youngster showed his worth in attack on several occasions as he kept bursting into Bournemouth’s penalty area. He presented himself as a constant outlet for Jack Wilshere, ever willing to maintain width on the left.

Alex Iwobi: 5/10

The Nigerian youngster has been under much fire in the press recently, but earlier today he didn’t do much to quieten that spotlight. Alex Iwobi was toothless in attack and a passenger off the ball. He did assist Bellerin’s goal, but besides that, he could only string together 37 passes.

Danny Welbeck: 4/10

It’s becoming evidently clear with each week that passes that Danny Welbeck is not of the standard of Arsenal football club. The 27-year-old spent the majority of the game on his back, losing 9 aerial duels in the process.

Alexandre Lacazette: 5/10

Alexandre Lacazette’s goal drought for Arsenal has now extended to 9 Premier League games. The 26-year-old lost 7 aerial duels, was dispossessed 5 times and failed to complete a single dribble.

Substitutions

Theo Walcott: 5/10

The sooner the Englishman leaves Arsenal, the better for all parties. After coming on in the 76th minute, Walcott spent most of his cameo being offside.

Aaron Ramsey: 6/10

Ramsey was given a few minutes to impact the game after coming back from a lengthy injury. However, the Welshman could only complete 10 passes in his time on the pitch.

Edited by Amit Mishra