Player ratings as Reiss Nelson wins it in stoppage time

Arsenal recovered from a two-goal deficit to defeat Bournemouth 3-2 on Saturday afternoon, as Reiss Nelson’s 97th-minute winner restored the Gunners’ five-point lead at the Premier League summit.

Bournemouth manager Gary O’Neil earnestly described the Emirates Stadium as “the toughest place to go” and “the biggest test you can face” before the match. Yet, his side made a mockery of that lofty billing within ten seconds of the opening whistle.

In a move that had the fluency of a pre-planned routine, Dominic Solanke rolled the kick-off back for Joe Rothwell to sweep wide. Dango Ouattara drove at Oleksandr Zinchenko and smuggled a low cross into the box. The delivery evaded Solanke but Arsenal’s centre-back pairing of Gabriel and William Saliba was similarly befuddled, watching the ball trickle through for Philip Billing to tap in a breathless opener.

With the second-earliest lead in Premier League history to sit on, Bournemouth could retreat into a compact 5-4-1 and break from this huddled rearguard. From just 14% possession in the first half – 35 accurate passes – the Cherries spurned three breakaway opportunities as Arsenal tossed red shirts forward in search of an equaliser, playing with even greater urgency that had a whiff of desperation after Manchester City reduced their advantage to two points at the Premier League summit earlier in the day.

From Bournemouth’s first corner of the match, Marcos Senesi peeled away from Thomas Partey’s laid-back approach to man-marking, enjoying a free run onto Rothwell’s corner which he nodded past a helpless Aaron Ramsdale.

Arsenal didn’t have long to lament a second sloppy concession as Partey made up for his own error from a Gunners corner. Emile Smith Rowe nodded Neto’s weak punch back into the six-yard box. While Ben White complained of a foul, Partey snuck in at the back post to volley in from close range.

Mikel Arteta turned to White at half-time to add a sixth body to Arsenal’s attack that contained more subtlety and craft than Takehiro Tomiyasu. But the full-back brought a goal on top of his guile, firing Reiss Nelson’s cross towards the net which Neto pawed away but not before it crossed the line.

On either side of a six-minute second-half burst, Arsenal had been thoroughly frustrated by Bournemouth’s disciplined defensive resolve, reduced to speculative efforts from range that didn’t trouble Neto. That is, until the ball fell onto Nelson’s weaker foot.

As the clock ticked into the eighth minute of stoppage…