Arsenal threw down the gauntlet to Manchester City. Gunners have a 4 point lead at the top of the Premier League

Arsenal defeated Bournemouth 3-0 in the 36th round of the Premier League and can dream of winning the title. Mikel Arteta’s men were in control of the game throughout and if the shooters had been more lucky, the visitors would have come away with far more goals.

Leandro Trossard found himself with the opening opportunity in the 10th minute. The Belgian got to the ball in the opposition penalty area, but his shot was blocked by the visitors’ defence.

It wasn’t long before Arsenal had another great chance. William Saliba found himself in the opposition penalty area from his position as a stopper, he stuck the opponent and shot into the middle of the goal only to test the attention of Mark Travers.

Just a minute later, Bukayo Saka had a similar opportunity. However, the visitors’ goalkeeper was ready. Travers was in action several times over the next few minutes. The Irish goalkeeper had to catch shots from Gabriel, Thomas Partey and Declan Rice.

The turning point came in the 38th minute. Martin Odegaard sent Kai Havertz towards goal with a perpendicular pass and the German striker was sent to the ground by Travers. Saka converted the penalty kick in the 45th minute and the home side went into the locker room with a one-goal lead.

2. half-time started as the first half ended. Saka got a shot away just after 5 minutes and Travers had to step in promptly to keep the Cherries in the game by at least 1 point. Just 3 minutes later the Irish goalkeeper had to show his goalkeeping skills again, this time against Havertz.

Arsenal did take a 2 goal lead in the 70th minute when Rice found Trossard in the opposition’s penalty area and the Belgian made no mistake with his shot to the far post. Even the excellent Travers in the Bournemouth goal was short on this attempt.

The visitors got their goal in the 75th minute. Antoine Semeney did get the ball over the goal line, but the visitors’ joy didn’t last long as the referee whistled an offensive foul on David Raya. The correctness of the verdict was confirmed a few minutes later by VAR.

In the 87th minute, Gabriel leaned on the ball after Odegaard’s centre and sent an uncompromising shot under the crossbar of Travers’ goal. Unfortunately for both Arsenal and the Brazilian stopper, the situation was preceded by an offside by Havertz, so the goal joy was in vain.

The score was then closed in the 7th minute of the 2nd half by Rice. The English midfielder made a great run into the box, worked the pass and shot into the opposite corner of the visiting goalkeeper’s net to make it 3:0 for the Gunners.

Arsenal will thus hope to stumble Manchester City, who host Wolves at the Etihad Stadium from 18:30. Currently, the London side enjoys a four-point lead, but has two games to play. Therefore, if the Citizens win both matches, the Gunners are still 2 points short of first place.

Source: Premier League