Paul Merson has blasted Arsenal after they were beaten 2-1 at home by Bournemouth, giving Manchester City yet more confidence in the Premier League title race.
Man City have already beaten Arsenal in the League Cup final, while Mikel Arteta’s side were surprisingly knocked out of the FA Cup by Southampton in the last eight. To make matters worse for the Gunners, they dropped more points in the Premier League on Saturday, as Alex Scott netted a deserved winner for Bournemouth.
Eli Kroupi Jr gave Bournemouth the lead early on when Gabriel inadvertently sent an Adrien Truffert cross into the striker’s path.
Gabriel then won a penalty for Arsenal as his shot hit Ryan Christie’s arm, and Viktor Gyokeres dispatched of the spot-kick in the 35th minute.
But Bournemouth had the last laugh as they pounced on Arsenal unsuccessfully playing out from the back. Evanilson flicked on Christie’s pass to send Scott through on goal, and the midfielder finished confidently.
Arsenal still have a nine-point lead at the top of the table, but City have two games in hand. Plus, the two sides face each other at the Etihad next weekend, with Arsenal now under massive pressure to win.
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On Sky SportsMerson was asked what today’s result will do for Arsenal’s mental fortitude. He said: “Oh, it’s smashed it to pieces. Absolutely.
“All of a sudden, if Man City win their three games, they’re level on points.
“Plus, they’ve got two games to make the goal difference up. If they beat Arsenal, soon as you start winning 2-0, that’s a four-goal swing.
“You’ve got to keep away from the papers, press and social media because everyone will be saying, ‘here comes the melt.’
“That is a terrible result today. A real bad performance as well. No energy, no, ‘let’s go and take the game to Bournemouth.’ It was sloppy.”
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On TNT SportsMartin Keown reacted to the loss by saying: “Huge disappointment. Bournemouth were quite magnificent, Southampton were magnificent last week.
“You’ve got to be better than you were today. Not developing the play through midfield.
“I’ve got written down here, ‘stick together,’ and you’re gonna have to. You’ve got a huge game in midweek (the second leg vs Sporting), everyone’s gonna be writing you off now.
“Does that change the psychology? Does that help the players? It seems like the pressure today was too much at times.
“The energy, we’re lacking energy. Bournemouth were fantastic in the duels, they seemed really fired up. I know they’ve had 22 days of rest, and Arsenal have had a lot of matches.
“Nevertheless, it’s nearly there for you, you’ve got to find the energy from somewhere.”
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