Arsenal fought back from a goal down to beat Bournemouth 3-2 on Saturday, stretching their lead at the top of the Premier League as Aston Villa extended their winning run at home.
A goal from Gabriel Magalhaes and two from the returning Declan Rice sent the Gunners six points clear of second-placed Villa and seven ahead of Manchester City.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta praised the character of his team, singling out Rice and Gabriel, whose sloppy pass set up Bournemouth for the opening goal.
“I love the character of Gabriel, the way he overcome that situation — it’s just unbelievable, it says a lot about how much we’ve grown,” he told Sky Sports. “The team found a way to beat them and it’s a massive win.”
The Spaniard said that Rice had worked hard to be available after missing Tuesday’s 4-1 home win against Villa with a knee problem.
“He has stretched himself to the very limit and the team were awarded with two great goals,” he added.
Evanilson gave impressive Bournemouth an early lead, stroking home after Gabriel’s error but the Brazil defender made up for his mistake just minutes later, converting after Noni Madueke’s drive to the byline.
England midfielder Rice side-footed the Gunners ahead in the 54th minute from the edge of the area and gave them breathing space with about 20 minutes to go, producing a low finish from substitute Bukayo Saka’s cutback.
Junior Kroupi brought Bournemouth back into the game with a thunderous right-footed finish but Arsenal held on for a fifth straight Premier League win — keeping them firmly on course for a first English title since 2004.
Earlier, Unai Emery’s Villa bounced back from their chastening defeat at Arsenal to beat Nottingham Forest 3-1, recording their 11th consecutive home win in all competitions.
England forward Ollie Watkins gave Villa a deserved lead on the cusp of half-time with a powerful strike from just outside the area and John McGinn scored twice in the second half, either side of a Morgan Gibbs-White goal.
Villa boss Emery said his players and coaching staff had held a meeting after their drubbing at the Emirates Stadium.
“I am so happy,” he said. “We had to recover our energy and our confidence. Here, at Villa Park, the energy we create was really important.
“Forest are competitive. After the Arsenal match we met — the players and staff — (and discussed) how we are doing this season, how we are feeling, how we needed to keep the same consistency as before, how we needed to be together and strong.”
Sean Dyche’s Forest, who have now suffered four straight league defeats, remain one place above the relegation zone, four points clear of West Ham, who slumped to a damaging 3-0 loss at Molineux. (JapanToday)
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