Have Arsenal blown their title chance after Bournemouth defat?

Have Arsenal blown their title chance after Bournemouth defat? Arsenal are still top, but the defeat to Bournemouth has changed the feel of the title race for many Arsenal fans. Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images Before the game, Mikel Arteta had called on supporters to “bring their lunch, bring their dinner” as Arsenal returned to Premier League action for the first time in four weeks with the chance to go 12 points clear of Manchester City .

Instead they produced a dog’s dinner – a performance that was ragged, short on control and, by the second half, increasingly familiar in the worst way. There was fortune in Bournemouth ’s opener, the ball glancing off William Saliba and dropping kindly for Junior Kroupi , but that only explains how the goal arrived, not why Arsenal lost. Bournemouth were comfortable enough once they went ahead and Arsenal never looked like a side able to force them back for any sustained period.

Arsenal were not undone by one freak moment so much as by their own lack of cohesion. Without Ebere Eze , Martin Odegaard , Mikel Merino , Leandro Trossard or Bukayo Saka in the starting lineup, there was very little rhythm or creativity to their game. That is not an excuse, but it is plainly part of the explanation.

Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images Without Odegaard in particular, Arsenal become a different side, and they have had too many afternoons like that this season. 22 matches without him is not a minor detail. Arsenal’s penalty will be forgotten after all this, but it was a penalty.