(BBC) – Declan Rice scored twice as Premier League leaders Arsenal came from behind to beat Bournemouth.
Gunners centre-back Gabriel played a blind pass across his box to gift Evanilson the opening goal for the Cherries.
But he made up for that with the equaliser as he lashed in a rebound after Gabriel Martinelli’s shot had been blocked.
Bournemouth had chances to go ahead but Rice’s shot from the edge of the box, from Martin Odegaard’s lay-off, gave Arsenal the lead.
The England midfielder, back from a knee injury, netted again following a cutback by substitute Bukayo Saka.
Teenager Eli Junior Kroupi gave Bournemouth renewed hope with a fine strike from outside the area – but they could not find a leveller.
Antoine Semenyo, playing perhaps his final game for Bournemouth before a £65m move to Manchester City, was quiet throughout.
The victory takes Mikel Arteta’s team six points clear of second-placed Aston Villa, although Manchester City can close the gap back to four points when they host managerless Chelsea on Sunday (17:30 GMT).
Arteta’s side enter the second half of the Premier League campaign the way they ended the first, with a victory. This was their fifth win in a row in the league.
The Spaniard will be happy too that he was able to do so while rotating players – regular starters Leandro Trossard and Saka started on the bench.
At this stage results, and not dominant performances, are what count as Arsenal try to win their first title since 2003-04 – and they are getting the results.
Arsenal were not at their best in the first half and Gabriel committed his first error leading to a goal in the league since February 2023 when he inadvertently picked out fellow Brazilian Evanilson, who netted the Bournemouth opener.
But he made up for that with the leveller – with good work from Noni Madueke in the build-up to that.
They had not had a shot since the 18th minute when Rice put them 2-1 up after 53 minutes – with Viktor Gyokeres holding up the ball before Odegaard found his midfield colleague.
Saka came on as part of a triple change for Arsenal and soon after set up Rice’s second – his first Premier League double in his 296th league game.
They would have hoped to cruise over the line after that – but they did not have too many scares after Kroupi’s strike for Bournemouth.
