Arsenal suffered their first defeat of the season as Bournemouth secured only their second-ever Premier League victory over the Gunners, with William Saliba’s red card proving pivotal. The center-back was shown a straight red for denying an “obvious” goal-scoring opportunity after bringing down Evalison following a poor back-pass from Leandro Trossard.
This marked Arsenal’s third red card of the season, and Mikel Arteta’s side have now dropped seven points in matches where they’ve been reduced to 10 men, following previous draws against Brighton and Manchester City.
Bournemouth took full advantage of their numerical superiority. Ryan Christie opened the scoring with a first-time strike from a well-executed corner routine, and Justin Kluivert added a second from the penalty spot. The penalty came after Jakob Kiwior’s errant back pass forced goalkeeper David Raya to bring down Evalison in the box. This mistake occurred just moments after Gabriel Martinelli squandered a prime chance to give Arsenal the lead.
Arsenal, missing key players Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard due to injury for the first time in a league game since 2021, now face a tough test against Liverpool next week, a match for which Saliba will be suspended.
