‘We were nowhere near our standards’

Arsenal suffered a blow ahead of their Champions League showdown with Paris Saint-Germain as Evanilson fired Bournemouth to a historic 2-1 victory on Saturday. 

Mikel Arteta’s side took the lead through Declan Rice’s first-half opener (34th minute) on his 100th appearance for the club. The midfielder ran onto Martin Odegaard’s pass before rounding the Bournemouth keeper to score in an empty net.

Evanilson nets winner

However, Dean Huijsen equalised in the second-half (67th min), heading a long throw into the net before Evanilson poked home the winner in the 75th minute to complete the comeback and give Bournemouth their first ever away win over Arsenal. Andoni Iraola’s side has also got the better of Mikel Arteta’s team at the Vitality Stadium in October.

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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta

“We should have put the game to bed. We defended really poorly, nowhere near the standards that we are used to,” a frustrated Arteta said.

The second-placed Gunners still require six points to guarantee Champions League qualification for next season via a top five finish in the Premier League.

Floundering Gunners 

After just one win in their last five games, Arsenal now hold only a three-point gap over Manchester City, who sit in third place.

However, the Gunners are also fighting on the European front, with a crucial second leg semi-final clash against Paris Saint Germain coming up mid-week. Luis Enrique’s team will kick-off the match at the Parc des Princes with a 1-0 advantage.

Knowing that a comeback is imperative to keep their hopes of a maiden Champions League title alive, Arteta wants his team to channelise the disappointment from the Bournemouth loss into the PSG match.

“What we have created is frustration, rage and anger. [we need to] make sure we use that on Wednesday [vs PSG],” said Arteta.

Having dealt with multiple injuries in the season, it was intriguing to see Arteta select a full strength side with the PSG game on the horizon. 

Jurrien Timber and Mikel Merino were the only notable absentees, with the former touch-and-go for the mid-week clash, as per Arteta.

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