Declan Rice made the perfect comeback from injury this evening, bagging twice as Arsenal battled past Bournemouth 3-2 at the Vitality Stadium.
The England midfielder had been a doubt after sitting out Tuesday’s demolition of Aston Villa with a swollen knee, but Mikel Arteta threw him straight back into the starting lineup.
It proved an inspired decision as Rice’s second-half brace helped the Gunners extend their advantage at the Premier League summit to six points.
Arsenal now sit on 48 points from 20 matches, with Manchester City seven adrift and facing Chelsea on Sunday.
Declan Rice scored twice in Arsenal’s 3-2 win
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Things got off to a nightmare start for the visitors when Gabriel’s attempted pass towards William Saliba went horribly wrong in the tenth minute.
The Brazilian centre-back’s wayward ball landed straight at Evanilson’s feet, and the Bournemouth striker gratefully swept it into the bottom corner for his first home goal of the season.
It could have been a damaging blow, but Gabriel wasn’t about to dwell on his mistake.
Just six minutes later, Noni Madueke danced past Antoine Semenyo and whipped in a cross that pinballed around the box before falling kindly for the defender, who lashed home the equaliser.
Rice took centre stage after the break, putting Arsenal ahead nine minutes into the second half with a lovely first-time finish.
Gabriel made up for his mistake with a goal
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Martin Odegaard picked him out on the edge of the box, and the £105m man made no mistake, firing past Dorde Petrovic.
His second arrived with 19 minutes remaining, and it was a beauty of a team move.
Odegaard threaded a gorgeous ball through to substitute Bukayo Saka, who burst down the right flank before cutting back for Rice to tap into an empty net.
Remarkably, it was the midfielder’s first-ever brace in the Premier League, coming in his 296th appearance in the competition.
The nerves weren’t quite over yet, though.
Junior Kroupi came off the bench to grab a goal for Bournemouth
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Substitute Junior Kroupi pulled one back just five minutes after Rice’s second, unleashing a stunning 20-yard strike that flew past David Raya into the far corner.
It set up a tense finale, but Arsenal held firm to secure their fifth consecutive victory.
For Bournemouth, it’s now 11 matches without a win stretching back to late October, though they remain nine points above the relegation zone.
Pep Guardiola’s City can trim the gap to four points if they beat managerless Chelsea tomorrow, but Arsenal have taken another significant stride towards ending their 22-year wait for the title.
