Kluivert concludes Bournemouth's victory from the penalty spot and Arsenal rue Saliba is red | first division

Arsenal's luck had to run out sooner or later. Mikel Arteta's side finally lost their unbeaten start to the season after William Saliba was sent off (his third red card in his first eight games). Bournemouth celebrated a famous victory thanks to goals from substitutes Ryan Christie and Justin Kluivert.

It was an evening to savor for their coach, Andoni Iraola, who saw his enterprising team claim their first victory over a top half of the table side since defeating Manchester United in December. That it was against Arteta, who grew up playing for the same youth team in San Sebastian, made it particularly sweet. But since Bukayo Saka had not made the trip to the south coast, Arsenal They looked uninspired even before Saliba's red card changed the balance of the match.

Arteta admitted before kick-off that there was “no point in putting pressure” on Saka with matches against Shakhtar Donetsk and Liverpool coming up after he returned early from England duty due to a hamstring injury. That meant Raheem Sterling held on to the win over Southampton before the international break and Mikel Merino made his first start in midfield. There was also a timely return for Ben White in defense, while Bournemouth made three changes since their disappointing defeat to Leicester last time out.

Iraola acknowledged this week that while their expected goals data indicated they should be fourth in the table, the onus was on his players to “become a more efficient team.” They made their intentions clear from the start as Alex Scott and Marcus Tavernier played attacking roles supporting centre-forward Evanilson and Riccardo Calafiori had to clear a dangerous early Lewis Cook free-kick.

A clever touch from Sterling after another Bournemouth corner almost created Arsenal's first chance, but Leandro Trossard couldn't quite free himself. David Raya was then lucky that his wayward pass to Scott did not result in a goal, as Antoine Semenyo fired in from distance.

Iraola and Arteta spent most of the first half hour cajoling on the edge of their technical areas as both sides canceled each other out in a midfield battle.

But the game suddenly came to life when Trossard inadvertently passed the ball over his own defense and Saliba brought down Evanilson as the Brazilian raced towards goal. A red card appeared to be the likely outcome, although referee Robert Jones initially only cautioned the French defender. However, with PGMOL boss Howard Webb watching from the stands, the VAR thought otherwise and Saliba left. Now he will not be there when Liverpool visit the Emirates next Sunday.

Merino came close to finding a breakthrough after some good work from Sterling before the England striker was sacrificed by Jakub Kiwior to shore up the defence. Semenyo had already forced Raya into a good save at his near post by then and Tavernier should have opened the scoring with his cross after Raya initially lost the ball before recovering to block the shot. Meanwhile, Arsenal fans made their displeasure known with several chants directed at Webb and other perceived injustices.

Semenyo should have done better with a golden opportunity that came 90 seconds after the restart following a clever backheel from Milos Kerkez. But having played most of 90 minutes with 10 men in draws against Brighton and Manchester City earlier this season, Arsenal showed once again that they are not easy to beat even in the absence of Saliba in the middle. his defense.

Any breakthrough seemed destined to come down Arsenal's right side as Dango Ouattara caused continued problems for White. So it was a surprise to see him break through as Iraola made three changes just after the hour mark, while Gabriel Martinelli almost made an instant impact off the bench when his cross was cleared in the last minute by Marcos Senesi. Kepa Arrizabalaga must have had his heart in his mouth when he passed the ball straight to Merino, but the Bournemouth goalkeeper redeemed himself by saving Martinelli's shot.

It was in their next attack that Bournemouth finally found what they were looking for. A clever short corner from Lewis Cook was disallowed by Justin Kluivert and that allowed Christie to apply the finish with aplomb.

Semenyo could have doubled their lead after Arsenal failed to clear another corner, but he was unable to direct his shot on goal. They didn't have to wait long, however, as a back pass from Jakub Kiwior led to Raya bringing down Evanilson inside the box and Kluivert intervening from the spot to leave Arsenal lick their wounds.