A second-half brace from Declan Rice was enough to edge a close encounter away to Bournemouth.
Gabriel was at the heart of both of the first half’s big moments. First he passed straight to Evanilson on the edge of the area for his compatriot to roll home, before our defender levelled up, thumping home a loose ball from Gabriel Martinelli’s parried shot.
We took the lead after the break when Rice struck from 20 yards, before he made it 3-1 from Bukayo Saka’s cutback. Junior Kroupi scored from long range to ensure a nervy last quarter of an hour, but we saw the game out to start 2026 with our seventh straight win.
Gabi makes amends
After defending a couple of early corners we started to get on the front foot. Piero Hincapie got behind the defence but crossed into a vacant box before Martin Odegaard and Noni Madueke both shot over. Madueke had done really well to fashion the chance but lacked composure when it came to the finish.
Just as we were building up a head of steam though, the hosts went ahead. Gabriel had the ball under no pressure at the back, and inexplicably played a pass across the area to Evanilson, who couldn’t miss with David Raya completely out of the picture.
It was wholly uncharacteristic from our big Brazilian, but six minutes later he made amends. Again Madueke did superbly to work his way into the box and pull the ball back from the byline. Martinelli’s shot was blocked but the rebound fell to Gabriel who made no mistake with a left-footed drive.
Cherries on top
The game remained open. Bournemouth were pushing forward in numbers while we were struggling to find any consistency or rhythm with our passing. Marcus Tavernier headed wide when arriving late in the box and Justin Kluivert drilled a free-kick just wide.
Antoine Semenyo, heavily linked with a January move to our title rivals Manchester City, shot over after a one-two outside the box as the hosts increased their shot tally. David Brooks then had the first shot of the second half, firing wide when he broke our offside trap from a quick free-kick.
Rice at the double
Ten minutes after the restart we took the lead. Viktor Gyokeres did well to hold up a bouncing ball inside the area, and it fell to Odegaard who assessed his options before rolling a pass to Rice. He strode onto it and crisply finished low inside the post from just outside the box.
Bournemouth remained dangerous going forward, but Rice gave us some breathing space with his second of the game. Odegaard was again involved, finding Bukayo Saka – who had only just come on – making a run inside the full back. He beat the keeper to the ball by the byline and pulled it back for Rice to make no mistake.
The goal was greeted by a new Declan Rice song from the travelling Arsenal supporters.
Kroupi cracks one in
However, within five minutes Bournemouth were right back in it. Kroupi had only been on the pitch a couple of minutes when he struck a swirling shot from 20 yards that flew past Raya. It was game on once again, and now it was the Bournemouth fans who found their voice.
But we managed the last 15 minutes or so without too much alarm, and recorded a win over the side that beat us home and away last year, to go six points clear at the top of the table.
FACTS AND STATS
We have won 15 of our 20 Premier League games this season, only in 2022/23 and 1932/33 (both W16 D2 L2) have they won more of their first 20 matches in a league season.
Bournemouth have failed to win eight Premier League games this season when scoring 2+ goals (D5 L3), twice as many as any other side in the competition.
Declan Rice scored his first-ever brace in the Premier League (his 296th appearance) and his second for Arsenal in all competitions, after his two direct free kicks against Real Madrid in April 2025.
Evanilson scored with Bournemouth's first shot of the match – the earliest away goal we have conceded in the Premier League since September 2024 (Erling Haaland, 9th minute).
Rice has scored five goals in 12 Premier League games against Bournemouth, more than double the goals he’s scored against any other opponent in the competition.
Bournemouth’s Premier League games have seen 69 goals (31 for and 38 against), at least seven more than other teams’ matches in the competition this season.
Gabriel became just the second defender to score 20 Premier League goals for us after Laurent Koscielny (22).
Junior Kroupi scored his sixth goal of the season, becoming the top-scoring teenager for a Premier League club in all competitions in 2025/26.
What’s next
Our next three games are in three different competitions. We are back at Emirates Stadium on Thursday evening to host Liverpool in the Premier League, before we kick off our 2026 FA Cup campaign away to Portsmouth. We head to the south coast in the third round on Sunday and that’s followed by a short trip across London to meet Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday, January 14.
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