A fairly balanced opening was turned on its head when, in the 28th minute, William Saliba brought down striker Evanilson as he looked to chase a loose Leandro Trossard pass.
Referee Rob Jones initially produced a yellow card from his pocket but was asked by VAR to have another look. Following review, he sent the Frenchman off.
Arsenal faced an uphill battle with 70 minutes still to play and did well to make it to half-time still level.
In the 70th minute, a fantastic chance for Gabriel Martinelli came and went, before Ryan Christie found the net at the other end. Hopes of three points for Arsenal had likely dwindled by this point but they were firmly quashed when David Raya brought down Evanilson in the box following a mistake from Polish defender Jakub Kiwior.
Justin Kluivert calmly dispatched the penalty and secured all three points for Bournemouth.
The loss keeps Arsenal in third, but may allow Manchester City and Liverpool to gain some ground over the Gunners, should they win their matches tomorrow.
“A big moment at 0-0”
Martinelli’s big chance with the scores still level will certainly be playing over in many Arsenal fans’ heads tonight. The Brazilian cannot be blamed for the result but a goal at this stage certainly could’ve changed the proceedings that followed.
Arteta said: “There is a big moment at 0-0 when we have a big opening, one-on-one situation with the keeper and we don’t manage to score and at the other end, we do that.
“We have to fault ourselves, football is a sport where errors are a part of that, tonight we made two big errors that has cost us the game unfortunately.”
Arteta is right in saying that Arsenal have to fault themselves. This was the type of mistake-littered performance that Arteta has worked tirelessly to eradicate over the last few years.
Players like Saliba have become known for the rarity in which they make these types of errors, but as the Arsenal manager said, errors are a part of the game.
The impact at this level, unfortunately, is very costly. Saliba will be missing when Arsenal play title-rivals Liverpool next week and should they lose, they may well be seven points behind Arne Slot’s team.
Bouncing back will be key for Arsenal and Tuesday night’s visit of Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League could present the perfect opportunity to do so.
“We need to play with 11 against 11”
Saliba’s red card marks the third Arsenal have picked up in the Premier League this season, in just eight games. It’s more than they’ve had over the last two seasons combined.
While the first two, given to Declan Rice and Trossard, were perhaps questionable, this one was clear-cut.
Arteta said: “What happens is almost a very unpredictable thing to happen that the winger is going to play the ball to your centre-back in the air one touch and there is going to be a challenge there, 35 metres from goal.
“It’s very difficult to plan for it, but we certainly need to play with 11 against 11 if we want to be in the position we want to be.”
While there is no suggestion of a disciplinary problem, given none of the three were dished out for anything violent, there is clearly a problem Arteta must address.
All three red cards have cost Arsenal points, with two ending in draws and tonight’s ending in defeat. The dismissals will likely have had a physical impact too.
In all three matches, the red cards have come with significant time left, especially today. With an incredibly demanding schedule and a squad already ravaged by injury, Arsenal cannot afford to keep playing matches in which they must defend with their backs to the wall.
For a team that made control their priority towards the end of last season, there has been very little of it so far this season. If Arsenal are to start hitting serious form, they must cut out the red cards and gain that ability to suffocate opponents back.
Tuesday night’s Champions League fixture will provide the first chance to do that before next Sunday’s title clash with leaders Liverpool.
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