OLIVIER GIROUD NETTED a 92nd minute equaliser after providing two assists to help Arsenal secure an unlikely point having trailed Bournemouth 3 – 0 in the Premier League tonight.
The south coast side had looked completely dominant until Alexis Sanchez got his side on the board in the 70th minute. Lucas Perez made it a one score game five minutes later with a superb left foot volley from an acute angle.
Bournemouth captain Simon Francis was handed a straight red card on 82 minutes for a rash two-footed tackle and left the momentum firmly behind the Gunners.
Having contributed the last touch for both goals, Giroud capped an excellent week with a header to secure the draw. And the Frenchman had to curtail his excited celebration after the realisation the game could still be won.
The mettle to come back was completely at odds with Arsenal’s first hour in the Vitality Stadium as Bournemouth capitalised on some very uncertain defending to score twice in five first-half minutes.
In the 16th minute, Charlie Daniels (circled in pic above) used the acres of space afforded him to collect a long pass from Junior Stanislas before cutting inside the scrambling Hector Bellerin and side-footing home.
Before Arsenal could steady themselves, Ryan Fraser was headed for the byline when Granit Xhaka needlessly checked his run just inside the penalty area and Callum Wilson hit the penalty straight down the middle as Petr Cech dived to his left.
A poor night from Bellerin looked like it would cost his side as he tumbled under pressure from Fraser in the 58th minute to let the winger in for a cool finish between Cech’s legs that brought the home faithful to raptures and seemed certain to seal victory.
With Sanchez and Giroud in confident mood though, Arsenal always had the ability to pose problems and Bournemouth weren’t able to keep Arsene Wenger’s men at bay.
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