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Arsenal produced a masterful performance to defeat Bournemouth at the Emirates stadium. Goals from Mesut Ozil, Henrikh Mhkitaryan, Laurent Koscielny, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette sealed a very impressive result for the home team.
The Gunners have been in very good form at home, with just 4 points dropped so far - the loss to Manchester City and the 1-1 draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers at the beginning of the season.
This game was filled with a lot of positives for Arsenal. Let's take a look at some of them.
#1 The impressive performance of Carl Jenkinson
One has to wonder why Unai Emery does not field the England international more often than he does, especially after Hector Bellerin's season ending injury.
This was probably one of Carl Jenkinson's most impressive performances in Arsenal colours since he signed from Charlton some years ago. Jenkinson attacked the Bournemouth defence at will and defended pretty well when called upon, though he was caught out of position sometimes.
Many Arsenal fans particularly loved Jenkinson’s tackle to win a 50-50 near the touchline just before the interval. That brought the home crowd rising to their feet to applaud his doggedness to win the ball back quickly.
Unai Emery must give the Englishman more playing time, especially in the absence of Maitland Niles, instead of playing the aged Stephan Lichtsteiner.
#2 Unai Emery's hard work paying off
One of the most impressive thing about the Gunners' victory over Bournemouth was the evidence of the Emery style of play beginning to key into the players. Emery is a coach who likes his team to press the opposition with intensity and a lot of energy. In addition to that, he loves his team to play on the counter with one-touch football.
The likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan were pressing the Bournemouth defenders into submission, which yielded dividends for most part of the game.
The pace at which the Gunners broke away on a couple of occasions to create a 3 v 4 situation was also very impressive. One of the breakaways saw Aubameyang score from a rapid counter attack led by Mkhitaryan, who earned the man of the match award for scoring one goal and effecting two assists.
The calmness with which the Gunners played themselves out of trouble when they were pressed by the opposition in many parts of the game was remarkable, although one such moment led to Matteo Guendouzi losing the ball and gifting Bournemouth their consolation goal.
If they continue to work on this, we could well see an Arsenal team playing the Guardiola way next season.
#3 The dynamism - A paradigm shift
During Arsene Wenger's reign as Arsenal's manager, the team was characteristically known for over-emphasizing the passing game and being too predictable to play against.
All that has changed now as Emery's Arsenal allows for players to travel some distance with the ball, beating their marker, rather than emphasizing the passing game. He is also a lover of combination play but with a strong emphasis on counter-attacking when the opportunity presents itself.
Guendouzi was also looking to thread the telegraphic pass from the midfield to find the likes of Lacazette and Aubameyang, making runs in behind the opposition defence. This is especailly important when faced with opposition who like to keep the high line while defending.
