Aubameyang helps Arsenal to win at Bournemouth
BOURNEMOUTH, England — Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored his eighth Premier League goal of the season to earn Arsenal a hard-fought win at Bournemouth on Sunday.
The Gunners had drawn their last three league games but Aubameyang’s second-half strike was enough to extend their unbeaten run to 17 matches in all competitions.
Jefferson Lerma scored a remarkable volleyed own-goal to give the visitors the lead at the Vitality Stadium, with Joshua King levelling for Bournemouth before Aubameyang scored to seal a 2-1 victory.
Unai Emery sprung a tactical surprise by starting with a three-man defence and it paid off as Sead Kolasinac, playing as a wing-back, laid on both Arsenal goals as they moved to within a point of Chelsea in fourth place.
Alexandre Lacazette missed out with a tight groin, while the change in system meant Mesut Ozil was only among the Arsenal substitutes.
The hosts thought they were ahead early on but David Brooks was flagged offside as he slotted home King’s through ball.
Arsenal went up the other end and Lucas Torreira rattled the foot of the post with an arrowed shot, with Alex Iwobi only able to lash the rebound high and wide.
Bournemouth was certainly the better team as the visitors struggled to adapt to a new formation, with Callum Wilson heading at Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno as the Cherries continued to push for the opener.
King’s pace was causing problems for the recalled Sokratis Papastathopoulos, who was shown a yellow card for hauling the Bournemouth man to the ground on the edge of the penalty box.
But it was Arsenal which took the lead with a half hour on the clock, Lerma accidentally turning Kolasinac’s cross past Asmir Begovic with a finish any top Premier League striker would have been proud of.
Iwobi drew a smart stop out of Begovic as the visitors looked to double their advantage before the break — but instead Arsenal’s run of not leading at halftime this season continued.
Cardiff is the only other top-flight side yet to hold a halftime lead in the league this season and King’s smart finish with the last meaningful kick of the opening 45 minutes ensured Bournemouth went in level. Arsenal was again pushing for a second goal but, having lost possession in the Bournemouth box, a rapid counterattack ended with King converting past Leno.
Neither side could create anything of note at the start of the second half. The Arsenal fans began to call for the introduction of Ozil but were soon celebrating the lead as Aubameyang slid in to score from six yards in the 67th after another Kolasinac cross.
Lerma almost atoned for his own-goal but struck the same post as Torreira with a low drive before Leno had to be alert to push the ball behind after it looped toward goal off the foot of Sokratis.
Henry Martin, right, was one of several Mexico internationals to impress in a pair of friendlies against Argentina.
The international break is now officially over for Mexico. Following two consecutive 2-0 losses to Argentina in the last five days, El Tri has emerged from the November friendlies with a number of lessons learned. With a focus on those two recent matches, here is the latest national team hot-list.
Warming Up
Guillermo Ochoa, GK, Standard Liege
Why he's here: During the first 2-0 loss to Argentina on Nov. 16, Ochoa emerged as Mexico's best player on the pitch. Thanks to his impressive stops,...
Albania
Scotland
0
4
FT
Game Details
Live football odds with bet365. Bet Now »
GameCast
Lineups and Stats
Scotland took control of the game early and never looked back, as they secured a much needed three points on the road.
Scotland's hopes of earning promotion to League B of the Nations League were boosted after a convincing 4-0 win over 10-man Albania in Shkoder on Saturday.
Bournemouth's Ryan Fraser gave Scotland the lead in the 14th minute, before Albania captain Mergim Mavraj was dismissed after receiving two yellow cards in quick succession seven minutes later.
The visitors took full advantage of the numerical advantage, plundering three more unanswered goals, starting with Steven Fletcher's penalty in first-half...
Switzerland
Qatar
0
1
FT
Game Details
Live football odds with bet365. Bet Now »
GameCast
Lineups and Stats
Qatar pulled off one of the most impressive results in their history when they won 1-0 away to Switzerland in a friendly on Wednesday.
Qatar, ranked 96th in the world, snatched the win after Akram Afif broke away and rounded Yvon Mvogo to score the only goal in the 86th minute of a lacklustre match played in front of a paltry 4,000 crowd.
The Swiss twice hit the crossbar, with a Michael Lang header in the first half and then a Christian Fassnacht effort after the break, but the visitors also had...
ESPN FC's Alejandro Moreno has his say on whether Alexis Sanchez, Edinson Cavani, James Rodriguez and more could be on the move in Transfer Rater.
The transfer window for all of Europe's big five leagues is closed, but that doesn't stop Transfer Talk from rummaging around to find out who will be moving where come January.
TOP STORY: Sanchez wants to leave United
Alexis Sanchez has had a miserable time at Manchester United since joining in January last year. With just four goals in 28 appearances, he has failed to produce the type of form that made him such a threat at Arsenal.
And now, the Chile international could be heading towards the...
The Exploding Heads also explore some interesting Mo Salah statue lookalikes and look at some curious goal celebrations over the Premier League weekend.
Relive the top strikes from Week 11 of the 2018-19 Premier League season, which include an emotional winner from Leicester's Demarai Gray.
Gab Marcotti reveals his best XI from the 11th round of Premier League action, which leaves Craig Burley and Brian McBride asking questions.
As strong as the Premier League's "Big Six" are, they all have areas they need to improve. But what if each club was allowed to pick a player from a rival to fill their biggest weakness? Without taking transfer fees or personal considerations into account, here's who they might choose.
ARSENAL: Virgil van Dijk
Given that this Arsenal team is a work in progress under new manager Unai Emery, it's admirable how well they're doing. That said, their fans would be forgiven for closing their eyes...
Nigeria find themselves in a goalkeeping pickle as they prepare to face South Africa in what is shaping up to be one of the biggest grudge matches of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying series.
It's an unfortunately familiar state of affairs.
Just before the first game of the campaign, the Super Eagles were hit with news of the enforced retirement of goalkeeper Carl Ikeme following his leukaemia diagnosis.
South Africa-based Daniel Akpeyi was called up and leapfrogged Ikechukwu Ezenwa for...
0 comments: