It was a shocking moment for Arsenal and the temptation was to squint in disbelief. How had it happened? How had Callum Wilson nipped in to equalise for Bournemouth? Arsenal had been in control, despite holding only a slender advantage, and the goal had hardly been signposted.
Then again, this is Arsenal and, more to the point, this is the most fragile of Arsenal teams. With the narrative checked, Arsenal duly folded and it was easy to point more fingers at a backline that would make their predecessors from hardier times turn purple with rage. It was remarkable to see the space they afforded to Wilson, before he teed up Jordon Ibe. On both goals their decision-making was lamentable.
This was not only a defensive horror show, however. For 69 minutes Arsenal were on top. With Jack Wilshere strutting his stuff they had the bulk of the possession and they probed for the opening. The most damning indictment on their latest setback was that they were able to create only three decent chances – one of which was taken by Héctor Bellerín. After Ibe’s goal the die was cast. Arsenal departed with a whimper.
The absence of Alexis Sánchez cast long shadows but it was worrying to see how thin Arsenal looked in terms of quality. Mesut Özil was also missing but Arsène Wenger was without only three other players – Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal and Olivier Giroud. The 18-year-old forward Eddie Nketiah took Sánchez’s place on the bench from the Carabao Cup semi-final at Chelsea last Wednesday and it is not the kind of swap Wenger ought to be comfortable in making.
There was a time when Arsenal brought the fear factor with them. When they turned up at a low‑ranking club they expected to roll them over. There are no such certainties now.
Before the game there was the sense, as ever when Arsenal go away these days, that anything could happen, that this one could easily get away from them. So it proved.
Arsenal’s goalscoring problems on their Premier League travels have been well documented and they are damned by the statistics. It is now 14 goals from 12 games and it is worth remembering that five of them came at Everton and three at Crystal Palace.
Without Sánchez and Özil the onus was on Arsenal’s other attacking players to step up – particularly Alexandre Lacazette, the club’s record signing. He looked horribly short on confidence.
It is clear Lacazette needs a goal but it was difficult to remember him getting into a shooting position. One moment summed up his tentativeness. Alex Iwobi fizzed in a low ball on 29 minutes – the kind that demands a run from the centre-forward. Lacazette did not make it into the area. He gestured at Iwobi, arguing that he should have rolled the ball to him – 20 yards from goal.
Lacazette had some nice moments in Arsenal buildups and he was involved in their two first-half chances. It was his run and deep cross that led to Ainsley Maitland-Niles hitting the crossbar and it was his pass that got Danny Welbeck in and required a smart stop from Asmir Begovic. But as the game wore on he dropped deeper and deeper. Either Lacazette simply craved involvement or, more worryingly, he did not want to put himself in the firing line. He has failed to score in nine matches.
Iwobi made Bellerín’s goal but, that pass aside, it was a slog of an afternoon for him while Welbeck knew he had problems when he lost the ball to the corner flag. Arsenal are drifting. Their bluntness here was traumatic.