Arsenal does it again with a Miraculous Comeback
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Another weekend and another Arsenal comeback, as it seems Mikel Arteta’s side is never entirely out of a game. This past weekend the Gunners did it again after trailing by two goals to nil against relegation side Bournemouth. A surprise goal in the dying seconds of the match from Reiss Nelson saw Arsenal win all three points and maintain their lead at the top of the Premier League table.
It was only 9 seconds in when Bournemouth’s Philip Billing tapped in a cross along the ground from the right side of the Arsenal box to give the visitors the lead. Officially timed at 9.11 seconds, Billing’s goal goes down as the second fastest goal in Premier League history. Only second to Shane Long’s goal in 7.69 seconds into that match for Southampton against Watford in 2019.
Arsenal had some good chances in the first half as well, just five minutes later it was Martin Odegaard that forced Bournemouth goalkeeper Neto into a difficult save down to his left before Bakayo Saka shot the rebound back at Neto and away. Bournemouth almost took a two goal lead in the first half through a counter-attack, but Aaron Ramsdale closed the space down and saved the shot from Philip Billing who was just a yard or two away from him.
With the chances that Arsenal had in the first half, it seemed like they were going to come out in the second half and equalize. Although it was Bournemouth center-back Marcos Senesi who headed home a cross past Ramsdale in the 57th minute. It wasn’t looking good for Arsenal, but five minutes later it was Thomas Partey who got a goal back for Arsenal.
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Mikel Arteta also subbed in for Ben White to start the second half for Tomiyasu at right-back, and it was him who got on the end of a cross from Reiss Nelson to send his shot just over the line despite Neto’s effort to save it. Already, getting a tie from this game was feeling like a relief for the Gunners after Arteta’s rotated squad had not panned out. However, with 20 minutes left after Arsenal equalized, you just felt like there were still more goals to come.
Arsenal bombarded the Bournemouth defense with many corners throughout the entire game; 17 total corners for Arsenal at the end of the match to be exact. It was that 17th corner that was headed out towards the edge of the box where Reiss Nelson took a touch to settle it and blast his shot into the top right corner of the net, leaving Neto with no chance to save it. After absolute chaos to celebrate the fantastic comeback, the referee blew the final whistle to confirm all three points to Arsenal.
A potential loss in this game would have shrunk Arsenal’s lead at the top of the league to only two points after Manchester City defeated Newcastle earlier in the day. Both teams still have tricky games left to play in the league, on top of playing each other once more at the Etihad. And with both teams still alive in European competitions, dropping points in unnecessary ways, are becoming more and more costly.
