Key events
60 min Tavernier flicks a speculative header across goal and wide. Bournemouth are showing the first signs of impatience.
I’m telling you: 1-0 to the Arsenal, 98th minute, Christopher Wreh.
59 min “I’m sure I wasn’t the only one reminded of a similar sending off for Gary Rowett?” sniffs Tom Hopkins. “Pulling back Brian Deane on the half way line in a Derby v Leeds cup game in 1996?
”From memory, some rather harsh views were aired about the probability of Deane sprinting half the length of the pitch in any circumstances. I feel that VAR is currently too objective – let’s liven it up by factoring in the ability of the fouled player to take advantage of the opportunity denied him.”
So even if Teddy Sheringham had a 20-yard start on the defender it wouldn’t count as clear goalscoring opportunity?
57 min A deep cross from the left is palmed into a dangerous area by Raya, who is relieved to see a lilac and light blue shirt get to the ball first.
56 min Havertz was a passenger in the second half at Manchester City but he is giving Arsenal an occasional outball here.
51 min There’s no Bukayo Saka to waft the corner under the crossbar. Instead Rice takes and Havertz heads over at the near post. An eighth-chance at best.
50 min Havertz does superbly to win a corner for Arsenal, beating Scott and then Kerkez on the right. Gabriel wanders forward with mayhem in mind…
48 min “On US television, Tim Howard thought the red card may be justified because Raya was backpedalling and not coming to meet the ball,” says Adam Roberts.
Raya definitely wasn’t a factor. The only possible case for Arsenal is that, because Evanilson had so far to run, White might have been able to get back. But he was so far across that it feels like a bit of a reach.
47 min: Semenyo misses a great chance! Kerkez’s backheel releases Ouattara on the left. He looks up and picks out Semenyo, weirdly unmarked at the far post. Semenyo watches the bounce carefully – and then sidefoots over the bar from 12 yards. That’s the best chance of the match by a distance. Maybe, as Alan Smith suggests on Sky, he had too much time.
46 min Bournemouth begin the second half, having switched Semenyo from left to right. Arsenal’s shape looks like 4-4-1, with Merino playing from the right and Trossard on the left.
Bournemouth substitution Adam Smith replaces Julian Araujo at right-back.
“Can anyone explain why no one has chosen to mention that Evanilson was clearly offside but no-one thought to check during the VAR review?” writes Mark. “Commentators never even raised it as a possibility in discussion, and officials clearly jumped straight to sentencing. Are fouls committed in an offside position now punishable? I must have missed that EPL rule change…”
You’re right: he was clearly in an offside position. And the pass was played by Leandro Trossard, so he wasn’t offside.
Half-time reading
Half time: Bournemouth 0-0 Arsenal
A dullish tactical battle came to life when William Saliba was sent off for denying Evanilson a clear goalscoring opportunity. Arsenal hunkered down, withstood the inevitable onslaught and were looking more comfortable by the end of the half. Make no mistake, all results are still on the table.
45+4 min “Thought it was a red live and I think the ref did too,” says Sean Orlowicz. “But he gave a yellow knowing he could double check on replay. I’m okay with that approach. Ben White wasn’t close enough to stop a one on one chance for Evanilson.”
I’m not sure about that, only because the threshold for VAR intervention is much higher this season so he couldn’t be sure he’d be told to go to the monitor. But yes, the more you see it, the harder it becomes to argue against the decision. White was too far across and there was nobody else who could have got back to cover.
45+2 min Evanilson makes a good run in the inside-left channel, away from Kiwior, who recovers well to concede a corner. It’s swung straight into the loving arms of David Raya.
45+1 min Four minutes of added time. Partey volleys over form 20 yards, an awkward chance.
45 min There’s been lots of Bournemouth pressure since the red card. This reeks of 1-0 to the Arsenal, with the winning goal scored from a set-piece in the 97th minute, probably by Steve Bould.
44 min “You know what they say about red cards,” says Niall Mullen. “One is unfortunate, two is careless, but three is clearly a Premier League conspiracy.”
Arf. I keep thinking how preposterously good Arsene Wenger’s early terms could be with 10 men. Anfield 2001, St James’ Park 1996, Upton Park 1998 and so on.
41 min: Good save by Raya! Semenyo storms down the left, far too quick for Kiwior, and drives a low cross. It’s spilled by the sprawling Raya, but he bounces to his feet to stop Tavernier’s follow up with his outstretched right foot. Excellent save.
40 min Calafiori has stayed at left-back, with Kiwior replacing Saliba in the middle. It looks like a 4-3-2 formation with Trossard supporting Havertz.
39 min You be the ref.
38 min “Bad all round,” says Charles Antaki. “Bad by Saliba, bad for Saliba, bad for this game, bad for the next game and, who knows, bad for Arsenal’s title chase. We had all been asking ourselves when this game was going get interesting. Well…”
37 min: Arsenal substitution Jakub Kiwior comes for Raheem Sterling. That probably means Calafiori will move to centre half. We don’t know yet because Bournemouth have a series of corners.
36 min Bournemouth have come to life. Semenyo cuts inside from the left, sells both White and Sterling a delicious dummy and goes back on the outside. Then he blasts a left-foot shot from a tight angle that is pushed round the near post by Raya.
35 min: Just wide from Merino! Sterling’s cross is half cleared by the diving Senesi at the near post. Merino controls it deftly, 15 yards out, and hits an instant shot that ricochets just wide off Senesi. The referee gave a goalkick but I’m almost certain that took a deflection.
35 min Saliba will now miss next Sunday’s Premier League game against Liverpool. Arsenal aren’t exactly short of centre-halves but he is hard to replace.
34 min “Evening Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “I was lucky enough to meet Andrew Hurley just once, briefly, but his intelligence, passion and humour shone through even to an eejit like me. Such sad news, I’m an Arsenal fan tonight.”
He’d have plenty to say about the red card. I reckon I’d be receiving an email about Trossard’s stupidity right about now.
33 min Gabriel comes across to make an excellent block from Semenyo’s shot. Arsenal have moved Partey to right back and Ben White into the centre alongside Gabriel.
31 min The only argument for not sending Saliba off is that Ben White, on the far side, might have got across to cover. I can see both sides!
It came out of nothing. Arsenal were popping the ball round near the halfway line, then suddenly Trossard lumped the ball in behind his own defence and Evanilson was away. Saliba’s foul was instinctive and he probably thought the distance between Evanilson and the goal would save him.
Saliba is sent off!
30 min Arsenal are not happy; it’s their third red card of the season.
29 min The referee is going to the monitor, and Saliba is in all sorts.
28 min Saliba is booked for pulling back Evanilson just past the centre circle. Evanilson would have been through on goal, having read an awful pass from Trossard, and there’s a pretty good case for a red card. There’s an ongoing VAR check.
27 min Both teams are struggling to keep the ball, although we should probably reframe that because it’s been more about the quality of the pressing than the poverty of the passing.
23 min Still no shots on target at either end. It feels like one of those tactical battles we used to read about in the glory days of Serie A.
21 min Arsenal pin Bournemouth back for about a minute until Sterling overhits a chipped cross that goes behind for a goalkick. Sterling does look lively though.
18 min Sterling zips past Kerkez in the area, then for some reason decides to go back outside him before whacking a cross that is headed away. He should have had a shot, admittedly with his weaker left foot, after beating Kerkez the first time.
17 min Semenyo blasts over from 25 yards. The opportunity came after Raya’s poor pass was intercepted by Scott just outside the area. He turned and squared the ball to Semenyo, who blootered it into the stand.
14 min Semenyo plays a nice angled pass to Scott, who tries to run at Saliba in the area. Saliba stays on his feet and takes the ball with laughable ease. He is so good one v one.
13 min The first 12 minutes have been more interesting than exciting. Bournemouth are keeping Arsenal at arm’s length for now; from memory they often start these tough games well before being overwhelmed in the second half.
9 min Evanilson runs the right-hand channel to win the first corner of the game. Tavernier takes, Arsenal clear and they’re immediately off on the break. For a split-second it looks like Sterling has managed to put Trossard through on goal from the halfway line, but Cook does well to get goalside and force him out wide.
8 min Arsenal are mixing their game up, occasionally going long to Havertz to beat the press. The evolution of this team under Mikel Arteta, particularly since they were reeled in by Manchester City in 2022-23, has been fascinating.
7 min Alex Scott is shoved over on the left wing by Ben White, a surprisingly brainless bit of defending from such a good player. Cook’s deep, inswinging free-kick is headed away decisively by Calafiori. Excellent defending.
4 min Both teams have maded a really fast start, particularly without the ball. Styles make fights and this has the potential to be a really good game.
2 min Arsenal have started with Raheem Sterling on the right wing as expected. Leandro Trossard is on the left. Bournemouth are playing, a little surprisingly, with Antoine Semenyo on the left and Dango Ouattara on the right.
1 min Arsenal, in their lilac and light blue third kit, kick off from left to right as we watch.
A reminder of the teams
Bournemouth (possible 4-2-3-1) Kepa; Araujo, Zabarnyi, Senesi, Kerkez; Cook, Scott; Semenyo, Tavernier, Ouattara; Evanilson.
Substitutes: Travers, Huijsen, Brooks, Christie, Adams, Smith, Sinisterra, Kluivert, Enes Unal.
Arsenal (possible 4-1-2-3) Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Partey; Merino, Rice; Sterling, Havertz, Trossard.
Substitutes: Setford, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Lewis-Skelly, Jorginho, Nwaneri, Martinelli, Jesus, Kabia.
Referee Rob Jones.
Andoni Iraola’s pre-match thoughts
We had our chances against Liverpool and Chelsea but we didn’t score first. We need to start strongly and try to give them an uncomfortable game.
It’s a difficult game against the best defence in the Premier League, probably the world. We need the mentality to take every chance we get as if it’s the last one.
The Guardian MBM community lost somebody dear last week. Andrew Hurley was a huge Arsenal fan who has been a regular contributor to the football and cricket liveblogs for over a decade.
This might sound odd but one of the things I loved most about Andrew is how often he disagreed with me. The best liveblogs have an ongoing discussion or riff that accompanies the on-field action. And though Andrew could be strident, he was always civil, a combination that is increasingly, depressingly rare in online discourse. He restored my faith that it’s still possible to disagree agreeably.
Andrew also had an enviable originality of thought. During a busy game, you might have 20 or 30 unread emails and only 10 or 15 seconds to pick one; if I saw Andrew’s name I’d usually go there because I knew he’d have something interesting to say, even if I didn’t always agree with it.
Knew: the past tense. He has left us far too young, and I’m just so sorry for all his friends and family.
This is the first time Arsenal have started a Premier League game without both Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard since Odegaard joined the club almost four years ago.
Mikel Arteta’s pre-match thoughts
[On Bukayo Saka’s absence] We tried to get him fit but he didn’t have the right feeling so there’s not point pushing him. We have other options and this will be a good test for us.
He has very different qualities to Martin [Odegaard], and for the type of game we expect we think he’s very good.
Bournemouth are very well-coached and have a lot of threat. They’re a very tough team to play against.
Today’s Premier League results
Everton lead Ipswich 2-0 at Portman Road in a game that kicked off 15 minutes late.
Read Ed Aarons’ preview
Premier League latest
There’s plenty going on in the 3pm games, including comebacks at St Mary’s, Celtic Park and Old Trafford. Scott Murray has the latest.
From the archive, but still well worth a read
Team news: Saka out, Merino starts
Bournemouth make three changes from their frustrating defeat at Leicester before the international break. Julian Araujo, Alex Scott and Dango Ouattara come in for Adam Smith, Ryan Christie and Justin Kluivert.
Bukayo Saya is absent from the Arsenal squad because of a hamstring problem. Leandro Trossard replaces him in one of four changes from the win over Southampton a fortnight ago. The summer signing Mikel Merino makes his first league start and Ben White returns to the starting XI. Jorginho and Gabriel Jesus drop to the bench.
Bournemouth (possible 4-2-3-1) Kepa; Araujo, Zabarnyi, Senesi, Kerkez; Cook, Scott; Semenyo, Tavernier, Ouattara; Evanilson.
Substitutes: Travers, Huijsen, Brooks, Christie, Adams, Smith, Sinisterra, Kluivert, Enes Unal.
Arsenal (possible 4-1-2-3) Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Partey; Merino, Rice; Sterling, Havertz, Trossard.
Substitutes: Setford, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Lewis-Skelly, Jorginho, Nwaneri, Martinelli, Jesus, Kabia.
Referee Rob Jones.
Preamble
Andoni Iraola has an itch to scratch. Since becoming Bournemouth manager his record against last season’s top six is desperate: P14 W0 D1 L13 F4 A32 Pts 1. His team are far better than that, as they’ve shown against the rest, and with the odd bit of giant-killing they could easily finish in the top half. It would also enhance the reputation of Iraola ahead of the managerial silly season.
All this is easier said than done, especially tonight. Bournemouth are up against a relentless, ravenous Arsenal team whose only dropped points this season have come with 10 men. They’ll go top if they win tonight, at least until Manchester City and Liverpool play tomorrow. They also have the chance to join a very small club. Liverpool are the only English club to have won 2000 top-flight games; Arsenal are 1999 not out.
Kick off 5.30pm.
