Bournemouth 2-3 Arsenal: Declan Rice shines in entertaining second half

Declan Rice struck twice as Arsenal ran its Premier League winning streak to five games with a 3-2 win over defense-starved Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday.

MORE — Mikel Arteta reaction

The Gunners trailed when Evanilson made the most of a Gabriel Magalhaes gaffe but the defender leveled the score within minutes before Declan Rice struck twice in the second half.

That didn’t trigger a comfortable ending thanks to Eli Junior Kroupi’s 76th-minute finish, but the Gunners hung on for the win and a six-point advantage on second-place Aston Villa. Man City can trim that lead to four with a win over Chelsea on Sunday.

WATCH — Bournemouth v Arsenal full match replay

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Bournemouth remain on 23 points, good for 15h on the table. That’s nine points clear of the bottom three despite the Cherries winless run reaching 11 Premier League matches after this home defeat.

Antoine Semenyo went the distance for Bournemouth despite reports of an impending move to Manchester City.

Arsenal’s midfielders too much for Adams-less Cherries

Bournemouth have allowed 38 goals in 20 games this season, a not-so-great return of 1.9 goals conceded per Premier League game. A resounding 14 of those goals have come in the five games since Tyler Adams went down in the fifth minute at Manchester United, as opponents have feasted on the Cherries to the tune of 2.8 goals per game. Bournemouth have midfielders who can desperate tackle and block shots. They have midfielders who can attack and help dictate tempo. But Adams might be their only hope at really controlling a midfield, and Martin Odegaard, Martin Zubimendi, and Declan Rice all had brilliant days against Marcus Tavernier and Alex Scott, taking a bit of the bite out of the Antoine Semenyo, Justin Kluivert, and David Brooks trio in front of them. It really was as simple as that.

What’s next?

Bournemouth host Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday in the Premier League before heading to Newcastle United on Saturday in the FA Cup.

Arsenal host Liverpool at 3pm ET Thursday in the PL and then visit Portsmouth on January 11 for an FA Cup third-round tie.

Bournemouth vs Arsenal final score: 2-3

Evanilson 11′, Gabriel Magalhaes 16′, Declan Rice 54′, 71′, Eli Junior Kroupi 76′

Eli Junior Kroupi goal — Bournemouth 2-3 Arsenal

Fantastic fit in true “pick that one out” fashion.

Substitute Eli Junior Kroupi lays it off to the right and goes to the middle where he retrieves the ball off another Cherry.

His aim is true from 25-ish yards.

Declan Rice goal — Bournemouth 1-3 Arsenal

It’s those two again, with recent sub Bukayo Saka in the middle.

Rice is just devouring good service, as Odegaard plays Saka into the 18 and the English winger cues up his countryman for a fine finish and brace.

Declan Rice goal — Bournemouth 1-2 Arsenal

The Gunners go right back the other way and score.

Martinelli gets a bit on a long ball and Viktor Gyokeres occupies 2-3 defenders.

Martin Odegaard scoops up the ball and delays a split-second before laying the ball back to Declan Rice.

The English midfielder doesn’t miss his mark.

Bournemouth nearly strike off kick restart

William Saliba commits a foul in the midfield and Bournemouth quickly restart, sending David Brooks down the left flank.

Brooks is able to turn the corner but it’s a tight angle to Raya’s goal and the Bournemouth man drags his shot wide of goal.

Halftime — Bournemouth 1-1 Arsenal

The Cherries are out-attempting the Premier League leaders 8-5 but the two best chances were by far the two best chances and both ended up in the goal.

How will Andoni Iraola attack the second half? Because Arsenal have Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze, Gabby Jesus, and Leandro Trossard on the bench and will surely deploy at least three of the four.

Bournemouth can bring Eli Junior Kroupi, Amine Adli, and Enes Unal into the fold, too, but Arsenal hold the biggest cards to play and Bournemouth have to decide when to push their attacking luck.

Gabriel goal! Bournemouth 1-1 Arsenal

Redemptive.

Really good stuff from Noni Madueke, who tracks down a long free kick and dances into and through the 18 before cutting back.

There’s an air kick by one Arsenal attacker before Gabriel Martinelli sees his shot blocked and Gabriel cleans up the third chance with a fine finish.

Gabriel gaffe! Evanilson goal — Bournemouth 1-0 Arsenal

Gabriel takes a back pass in his left corner and doesn’t look centrally before passing square.

Had he looked, he would’ve seen Bournemouth center forward Evanilson standing between the spot and the top of the box.

Evanilson buries a shot past David Raya, and it’s 1-0.

Arteta makes changes, Iraola gets Semenyo

Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard are on the bench, as is Eberechi Eze, as Mikel Arteta will play Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli on either side of Viktor Gyokeres.

Andoni Iraola gets at least another game out of Antoine Semenyo, which probably shouldn’t be a huge surprise — if Man City are to buy Semenyo, isn’t playing against Arsenal as Bournemouth’s best player essentially a part of City’s title hunt?

Bournemouth lineup

Petrovic, Truffert, Senesi, Jimenez, Hill, Scott, Brooks, Tavernier, Kluivert, Semenyo, Evanilson

Arsenal lineup

Raya, Timber, Saliba, Magalhaes, Hincapie, Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard, Madueke, Martinelli, Gyokeres

Bournemouth vs Arsenal preview

The Gunners hammered Aston Villa 4-1 on Tuesday to run their winning streak to four matches, and Man City’s Thursday draw with Sunderland has delivered the Gunners a four-point lead atop the Premier League table.

Meanwhile, Bournemouth continues to slump toward the bottom three. Andoni Iraola’s Cherries remain nine points clear of the relegation zone but are now four points back of the top half of the table.

It’s head-snapping stuff given Bournemouth’s recent seasons and their hot start to this campaign. Bournemouth have gone 10 Premier League matches without a win, though they have drawn five times including two with Chelsea and one with Manchester United.

But the schedule’s not getting any easier for a side that was second after nine weeks and fifth after the first match of November.

Bournemouth team news, focus

OUT: Ryan Christie (knee), Tyler Adams (knee – MORE), Veljko Milosavljevic (knee), Ben Gannon-Doak (hamstring), Matai Akinmboni (muscular) | QUESTIONABLE: Antoine Semenyo (undisclosed), Lewis Cook (neck)

Arsenal team news, focus

OUT: Riccardo Calafiori (undisclosed), Max Dowman (ankle), Cristhian Mosquera (ankle – MORE)| QUESTIONABLE: Declan Rice (knee)

Bournemouth vs Arsenal prediction

Here’s a telling stat: Bournemouth and Manchester United were scoreless when Cherries (and USMNT) mainstay Tyler Adams departed their Week 16 match. Bournemouth conceded four times in that game, once in a draw at Bournemouth, four more times at Brentford, and twice against Chelsea. He’s so important and Arsenal may just eat the Cherries alive on Saturday. Bournemouth 1-3 Arsenal

How to watch Bournemouth vs Arsenal live, stream link and start time

Kick off time: 12:30pm ET Saturday

Venue: The Vitality Stadium — Bournemouth