sport news Arsenal's young stars will surely come again if they don't win the Premier ... trends now
Ten minutes after the final whistle and once his TV duties had been done, Arsenal’s Declan Rice finally left the field with a smile, a wink and a thumbs up to the supporters gathered by the players’ tunnel. If that gave the impression this had been a straight-forward afternoon, then that would be quite wrong.
Arsenal deserved their victory. They enjoyed the possession and the territory and they created the chances. During an opening 25 minutes during which they pummelled Bournemouth, Mikel Arteta’s team created nine good opportunities.
But Premier League titles have to be hard won and in the end Arsenal needed a couple of decisions to go their way in order to get this particular job done and ensure they reached the end of this round of game still top of the league.
The penalty awarded them just before half-time was not a simple call. Kai Havertz certainly did his best to engineer the contact that ultimately came from Bournemouth goalkeeper Mark Travers. Bukayo Saka scored from the spot.
Then, fifteen minutes from time with Arsenal 2-0 up but far from secure, referee David Coote called a foul on Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya at the start of a schemozzle that ended with Bournemouth putting the ball in the net.
Ten minutes after the final whistle, Declan Rice finally left the field with a smile, a wink and a thumbs up to the supporters gathered by the players’ tunnel
Arsenal secured a 3-0 win over Bournemouth to take another huge step towards the title
Bukayo Saka (R) netted the first of the game from the spot despite claims Kai Havertz (L) dived to win the spot kick
A goal to the visiting team at that stage and the Emirates would have been consumed by late nerves. VAR had a long look at that and probably should have invited Coote to have a glance at his pitch side monitor. But they didn’t and Arsenal were allowed to ease over the finish line without drama and indeed another goal of their own.
So Arteta will perhaps know that his team got on the right side of a couple here but he will also have recognised how well his team played in patches. Rice continues to stride around the Arsenal midfield with the look of a player at the peak of his considerable powers. He has been in north London for less than a season and already looks far better than he did when he arrived from West Ham.
Further forward, meanwhile, Martin Odegaard, Leandro Trossard, Saka and Havertz currently make up the most fearsome attacking quarter in the country. If they don’t win the Premier League this time round it’s hard to see anything other than another challenge arriving next time round. Arsenal have the look of a team ready to grow in to sporting middle age together.
Certainly they were marvellous early on. Trossard, Odegaard and
