Last weekend wasn’t the best of weekends for me but from a footballing perspective it was good. Spurs lost their unbeaten run, Manchester United were held at home, Jose Mourinho was sent off again. Beautiful.
It all had to do with the Arsenal perspective. Manchester City scrapped up a 2-1 away win at Burnley, Liverpool had a wedge to David Moyes’ Sunderland revival with a 2-0 win and Arsenal had to respond with a 3-1 win over plucky Bournemouth.
Wilshere was all over the news and was visiting the Emirates for the first time since he made a last switch to the Cherries on the last day of the summer window. It was documented that he wanted his new team to score but they brought gifts for the Gunners. Unfortunately he was not eligible to face the Gunners.
Debuchy started for Arsenal for the first in ages but his return was short lived after he was subbed off for Gabriel in the first 17 minutes. Coquelin was rested, giving room for Xhaka and El Neny to run the show from the middle of the pack. Chamberlain and Walcott flanked Sanchez upfront with Ozil just behind.
Sanchez benefited from a poor back pass from Steve Cook in the 12th minute to open scoring for the Gunners. In the 23rd minute, Monreal brought down Callum Wilson in the box. The forward dusted himself off and scored from the spot to bring the game to 1-1.
In the second half, Theo Walcott got his new baby a present when he converted Monreal’s cross to make it 2-1 in 54th minute. The Cherries came close in the 76th minute when Cech kept former Gunner Benik Afobe from levelling. Super sub Giroud made the final impact of the game after his pull back was converted by Alexis Sanchez for his brace and Arsenal’s third.
It was a difficult game against well grilled Bournemouth and the Gunners paid the price with injuries to Debuchy and Giroud. The big lads can rest by midweek as the Gunners host Southampton in the EFL Cup quarter final on Wednesday.
Enjoy
SoccerGunz 