Arsenal's first loss of the season occurred disappointingly as a red card for William Saliba inspired a hard-working Bournemouth team to pull off a huge upset, thanks to a goal from a corner and a penalty.
An unlikely name appeared as a goalscorer for the Cherries, with Scotsman Ryan Christie scoring his second-ever Premier League goal in his career. Justin Kluivert, son of Dutch legend Patrick, was the penalty taker and put the game to bed at 2-0, giving the Gunners their first away loss of the year.
Story of the game
Hosts Bournemouth lined up with a more youthful side than their last game. A 1-0 loss to Leicester, as veteran right-back Adam Smith made way for summer signing Julián Araujo, while Alex Scott and Dango Ouattara replaced Ryan Christie and Justin Kluivert respectively.
Arsenal arrived at the Vitality Stadium without Bukayo Saka, as the Gunners' key man picked up a knock during the international break. Replacing the winger was Raheem Sterling, who made his first start for the side since being loaned in on transfer deadline day.
Another player would make his first-ever start for Arsenal as well, with Spaniard Mikel Merino playing as the right-hand side central midfielder. Ben White also returned for the London team, filling in for Jurriën Timber, and Leandro Trossard was preferred over Gabriel Jesus on the left wing.
The game commenced with a slow start for both sides. Players were limited with time on the ball as both managers opted for a high-pressing and aggressive approach, and favorites Arsenal were not necessarily the better side in the opening portion of the game.
The away side hoped to go a goal up only ten minutes in, as an error from Araujo allowed Trossard to pick up the ball in the Bournemouth half. The Cherries were effective at stopping the Belgian however, and the defensive line managed to slow the attack down and reduce the chance to a poorly-taken corner.
Antoine Semenyo would get Bournemouth's first real chance, as the Ghana international capitalized on a mistake from David Raya. The shot was a fairly respectable one but ended up over the bar in a disappointing end to what was a good opportunity.
The 27th minute of the game would see a game-changing incident, as Arsenal center-back William Saliba received a yellow card for pulling down Cherries striker Evanilson. With Saliba being the last man and Evanilson arguably through on goal, home fans were hoping and expecting a red to be shown.
After the on-field decision was sent to VAR, the yellow was overturned and Arsenal's French center-back was shown an early bath, marking the side's third red card since the start of the season.
Every Bournemouth attack suddenly looked a lot more threatening, and the home side looked the stronger side following the dismissal. But it was ten-man Arsenal that had the first proper threat, with a Mikel Merino shot from outside the box firing just wide of goal.
A defensive substitution was made by Mikel Arteta as Jakub Kiwior replaced Raheem Sterling. Despite the extra defender, Bournemouth came extremely close to scoring after a cross courtesy of Semenyo was claimed by Raya, only for the Arsenal keeper to let the ball slip and end up in the path of Marcus Tavernier.
Tavernier took the shot well, but an expert save from Raya kept his team from going a goal down heading into halftime. Could Arsenal continue their streak of drawing matches when they go down to ten men, as they did against Brighton and Manchester City?
A fantastic opportunity arose for the Cherries only a matter of minutes after the resumption of the second half, as creator-cum-shooter Semenyo had a shot blaze over the goal that might have been a different outcome if the ball had not struck the first time.
With twenty minutes elapsed and the deadlock still unbroken, Bournemouth opted to make a triple substitution. Luis Sinisterra, Justin Kluivert, and Ryan Christie came on, replacing Dango Ouattara, Marcus Tavernier, and Alex Scott.
The substitutions looked to be in vain as a huge chance was granted to Arsenal, thanks to a poor pass from keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga that found Mikel Merino. Merino fed the ball through to Gabriel Martinelli, but a fantastic save from Arrizabalaga made up for his earlier error and, almost 70 minutes in, the game was still without a goal.
A corner would occur up the other end a couple of minutes later. After the ball found a cunning Kluivert running into space, the Dutchman fed the ball through to Ryan Christie, who smashed a shot into the top-left corner and straight past a shellshocked Raya. The score was now 1-0 to the hosts, and Arsenal would need to act quickly if they wanted any chance of points.
Evanilson again found himself involved in drama as, in the 79th minute, a foul from Raya brought down the Brazilian striker and Bournemouth were awarded a penalty to extend their lead.
Kluivert would add a goal to complement his earlier assist, as a coolly taken penalty had Raya diving the wrong way. A comeback from 2-0 down was too big a task for the visitors and the life in the game ebbed out over the final minutes.
An avoidable loss for Arsenal but an extremely motivating win for Bournemouth. A result which sees Liverpool and Manchester City retain their place of first and second in the league.
"Playing for 65 or 68 minutes with ten men at this level is just an impossible task, an accident waiting to happen to not get the points and I cannot fault the team for their effort."
Mikel Arteta on Arsenal being a man down for most of the game.
VAVEL USA's Man of the Match
Justin Kluivert. A goal and assist is an attacking return that most Premier League players would happily take over the course of a game. Kluivert scored and assisted in only 27 minutes, and was the spark needed to put the victory in the hands of his side. He did not do much else, but ultimately goals and assists are the most important stats in football.
What is next?
Arsenal will face Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday night in the Champions League. They are looking to continue their last continental outing that saw a 2-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain. The game will be at 3:00 pm ET / 12:00 pm PT and can be watched on CBS or streamed on Paramount+.
Bournemouth will travel to Villa Park to play Aston Villa, with the Birmingham-based side hoping that the Cherries will not cause a similar upset to the one seen today. The match will take place on Saturday 26th October at 10:00 pm ET / 8:00 am PT and can be watched on Peacock.
