Arsenal’s Last-gasp Winner Stun Bournemouth

Arsenal’s Last-gasp Winner Stun Bournemouth

Reiss Nelson scored a stunning 97th-minute winner as Premier League leaders Arsenal came from two goals down to beat Bournemouth.

Bournemouth had taken the lead after just 9.11 seconds through Philip Billing, and went 2-0 up via a Marco Senesi header.

However, Arsenal pulled level with goals by Thomas Partey and Ben White, before Nelson struck.

The winger, making his first appearance since  November 12, slammed in from 25 yards in the seventh minute of stoppage time.

Arsenal’s Premier League lead is restored to five points, after they had seemed certain to cede ground to Manchester City, winners over Newcastle in the early kick-off.

Bournemouth, meanwhile, remain in the relegation zone after threatening a major upset – and beginning at top speed.

Billing’s goal was the second-quickest in Premier League history – only Shane Long, who scored for Southampton after 7.69 seconds at Watford in April 2019, has netted faster.

Nelson had played just 64 minutes of Premier League football this season – having struggled with thigh problems – before being thrown on as a second-half substitute by Mikel Arteta here.

Yet, the homegrown talent was the unexpected hero, collecting a half-cleared corner outside the area and bending a superb strike beyond Bournemouth keeper Neto.

The outpouring of emotion that followed was immense; the Arsenal bench cleared as virtually every player and member of staff rushed to celebrate with the match-winner.

From the kick-off, Joe Rothwell fed a pass wide to Antoine Semenyo, whose low ball across the box was dummied by Dominic Solanke and missed by Gabriel, who allowed it beneath his studs. Billing escaped William Saliba’s lax marking, and finished under Aaron Ramsdale.

For a long time, Bournemouth defended their very early lead with stubbornness and co-ordination, marshalled well by goalkeeper-captain Neto, who made a terrific double save from Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka just minutes after Billing’s opener.

Bournemouth were happy to attack on the break, and should have gone two ahead before half-time, Ramsdale making a superb spreading save to deny Dango Ouattara as the visitors countered from an Arsenal corner.

However, they dropped deeper as the game progressed – until the decisive blow in the final seconds.

While Arsenal continue to lead the pack in their pursuit of a first Premier League title in 19 years, they also have clear defensive frailties – they now have just three clean sheets in their past 18 home league games.

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