Arsenal fell further behind leading Chelsea in their title challenge as they had to be content with just a 3-3 draw to gain just a single point at Vitality Stadium.
Arsenal had travelled to AFC Bournemouth without their talisman Mesut Ozil and Theo Walcott but were bolstered with the comeback of Shkodran Mustafi while the home side were without Adam Smith and on loan from Arsenal, Jack Wilshere. The game had everything, from plenty of cards to a penalty, plenty of goals to a thrilling finish and points for both the teams.
Arsenal displayed a bad premier league match this season, falling behind 2-0 inside 20 minutes owing to some poor defending.
Charlie Daniels scored in the 16th minute after finding acres of space behind the last defender. He did not disappoint with his ball controlling and finishing skills.
Bournemouth won a penalty in the 20th minute, courtesy, Granit Xhaka for his clumsy challenge to bring down Francis inside the box. Callum Wilson stepped up to take the resulting penalty, sending the ball inside the goal to give the home side a 2-0 lead. Ryan Fraser scored the third by slotting the ball under Cech and inside the goal in the 58th minute.
With the clock nearing the last twenty minutes of the game, Alexis Sanchez scored with his head from a cross by Oxlade-Chamberlain to give the visiting side some hope.
Lucas Perez then scored from a stunning volley in the 75th minute after a wonderful assist from Giroud, 3-2. Meanwhile, Francis was sent off in the 82nd minute for a challenge on Ramsey.
The moment of the day for Arsenal came in the extra-time as the in-form Giroud continued his scoring form by slotting in a header to restore parity. At the end, both sides looked frustrated at being able to draw just a single point from the game.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger though lauded his resiliant team for their efforts to salvage a point from the game. Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe also seemed pretty happy and hailed his team for their “magical performance”.
The result means Arsenal remain at fourth position, eight points behind the league leaders Chelsea, having played a game extra. Bournemouth moved up to ninth position.
Arsenal next travel to Preston for the FA Cup third round tie before their league encounter against Swansea City next weekend.
