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Arsenal halted a run of three successive league draws with a nervy 2-1 win over Premier League outfit Bournemouth in their fourth-round FA Cup clash as they continue to show some signs of improvement under Mikel Arteta. This was the first-ever FA Cup encounter between the two sides, who were playing for a trip to Portsmouth in round five.
Both teams were much-altered since their last Premier League fixtures, with Arsenal making five changes from the 2-2 draw at Chelsea and Bournemouth making six alterations following a much-needed 3-1 home win over Brighton. Although the Gunners had won eight of the 11 previous meetings against the Cherries, they had been held 1-1 when they last faced off at the Vitality Stadium on Boxing Day.
However, it didn’t take long for Arsenal to stamp their authority on the game, scoring with their first effort on target thanks to a thunderous drive from youngster Bukayo Saka. Having been fed on the overlap by the impressive Gabriel Martinelli, the stand-in full-back rifled the ball home at the near post past Mark Travers with some power. The early goal threw Eddie Howe’s gameplan completely out of the window, as they had been set up to sit back and allow their opponents to knock the ball around inside their own half.
Bournemouth continued to let Arsenal have the lions share of possession, and although the Gunners’ young and quick forward line looked busy, they failed to create many more opportunities. It was only a matter of time, however, before Arsenal would strike again, and they duly obliged through Eddie Nketiah.
The young English forward has featured mainly in cup competitions since cutting his loan spell at Leeds United short, and gleefully slotted home Saka’s cutback to double his side’s lead on the half-hour mark. His celebrations were slightly tempered by a lengthy VAR check on a possible offside call, but the goal eventually stood.
The second goal prompted jeers from the home supporters, prompting a change of system from Bournemouth. Dan Gosling was pushed up to support the as-yet isolated Dominic Solanke in an orthodox 4-4-2 rather than the 4-5-1 they had previously been operating under. This tactical tweak seemed to spark some life into the home side as they ended the half on the ascendancy, forcing Emiliano Martinez in the Arsenal goal into action.
The second half started off with the teams much more evenly matched, finally providing the tight Cup tie that was originally promised. Both sides prodded and probed without much action in front of goal until the hour mark when Martinez had a rush of blood and raced off his line to head away a loose ball, colliding with Mustafi in the process. The German defender did not recover sufficiently from the ensuing knock and had to be replaced by Rob Holding.
Bournemouth decided to go for it late on in the second half, throwing on Callum Wilson for his namesake Harry with 15 minutes to go. However, a few nasty-looking head injuries prevented the home side from stringing together any meaningful attacks even as the Gunners’ defence was looking particularly vulnerable.
Late substitute Sam Surridge did pull one back for the hosts in the 94th minute, controlling a Simon Francis cross with his left before slotting it past Martinez with his right. However, that was as much as the Cherries would get from this contest as it ended 2-1 in the Gunners’ favour.
With Arsenal eventually securing the win that saw them progress in the cup, here are the hits and flops from a tense fourth-round encounter.
Hit: Mikel Arteta
Having been held to a 1-1 draw in the league by the same opposition just over a month ago, this clash was the perfect opportunity for a more accurate assessment of how far Arteta’s Arsenal side have come. His astute tactics made up for the youth and relative inexperience of his side and even brought out the best in his young players.
David Luiz’s early red card at Chelsea had forced the Spaniard to deploy Granit Xhaka as the left-sided defender in a back three, which seemed to be the plan here again. This move allowed Saka to play in a more advanced wing-back role wherein he was able to contribute with a goal and an assist.
Some increasingly shaky moments in defence towards the end of the game would have given him much cause for concern, especially as the Gunners might get found out against better opposition, but this performance accomplished what was needed on the day.
Flop: Eddie Howe
In contrast to his managerial counterpart, Eddie Howe got his tactical decisions all wrong and was found out thanks to two Arsenal goals within the first half-hour. Even after overloading the midfield and sitting deep didn’t work the first time, Howe took too long to respond and only tweaked the system after going two down.
Although he was forced to pick from an increasingly injury-hit squad, the decision to replace both Phillip Billing and Jefferson Lerma in the middle of the park allowed Arsenal too much freedom in midfield, while Callum Wilson was brought on far too late to make any meaningful impact.
Hit: Gabriel Martinelli
Although his arrival at Arsenal over the summer might have gone somewhat under the radar amidst the moves for Nicolas Pepe and Dani Ceballos, Gabriel Martinelli has been making waves with his performances both in England and in Europe this season.
The 18-year-old further embellished his burgeoning reputation with a sparkling display that saw him claim yet another assist as he teed up Saka for the opener. Arsenal might have their fair share of problems, but Martinelli looks destined to be a star for years to come.
Flop: Harry Wilson
The quality that the young Welshman possesses on his left foot has been clear for all to see over the past couple of seasons as he has been banging in wonder-goals from all over the park. Up against a makeshift left side of Bukayo Saka and Granit Xhaka, Wilson would have been expected to run riot despite his usual supply of goals having dried up of late.
However, the Liverpool loanee was largely anonymous for large parts of the game, forcing Martinez into just one save from close range and disappointing with his crosses into the box all night. He was replaced by his namesake Callum with 15 minutes to go.
Hit: Bukayo Saka
A couple of unfortunate injuries to Arsenal’s left-backs have forced the young Englishman to adopt an unfamiliar role in defence for his side and he has had his fair share of strife. However, with Xhaka moving into the left side of a back three, Saka had the freedom to bomb on, which he did to great effect. He opened the scoring before laying on the second for Eddie Nketiah, putting Arsenal two goals clear in half an hour.
This was Saka’s first goal for Arsenal against English opposition, with his previous two coming against Eintracht Frankfurt and Standard Liege, where he also assisted another goal! Creditably, he didn’t shirk his defensive duties either, putting in a couple of robust challenges and even popping up in dangerous positions high up the field in the dying embers of the game.
