Bournemouth 2-3 Arsenal: Declan Rice's second-half double sends Gunners six points clear at top of Premier League table

03.01.2026, 21:52 skysports.com

Declan Rice's second-half double proved crucial to put Arsenal six points clear at the top of the Premier League table via a 3-2 win over Bournemouth, despite multiple scares on the south coast.

Rice - who missed the win over Aston Villa with a swollen knee but was straight back in the starting line-up - proved his value to the team by crashing in two goals from inside the box.

But it was a tricky encounter for the league leaders against Andoni Iraola's side, who did the double over the Gunners last season, and Paul Merson described their first-half display as "one of the worst first halves I've seen Arsenal have".

That was no better seen when Gabriel gifted Evanilson a tap-in after just 10 minutes via a slack pass across his goal. The Bournemouth forward had the simple task of rolling the ball into an empty net.

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Arsenal were rattled as Justin Kluivert went close to doubling the Cherries' lead, but Gabriel made amends six minutes later by levelling from inside the box after a mazy Noni Madueke run.

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Bournemouth caused more problems until the half-time break, when Mikel Arteta put in another solid half-time team talk. Nine minutes after the restart, Martin Odegaard set up Rice with a deft pass on the edge of the box to crash home.

Rice doubled his tally after Odegaard released substitute Bukayo Saka down the right with another slick ball - with the Arsenal midfielder tapping home after his England team-mate cut it across.

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But Bournemouth were not done as substitute Junior Kroupi set up a grandstand finish with a curling effort from distance. But the league leaders hurdled the late pressure.

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Arsenal's lead sits at six on Saturday but Man City could trim it to four should Pep Guardiola's side beat managerless Chelsea on Super Sunday. Bournemouth's winless run stretches to 11 - and they could end up 16th by the end of the weekend.

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More to follow.

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