Arsenal looked set to drop two precious points in the Premier League title race until a local lad stepped off the bench…
When the dust settles from this truly remarkable afternoon at the Emirates, this game might just be regarded as the most dramatic that this stadium has ever seen.
For so long it looked like Arsenal's title hopes were going to suffer a hammer blow against struggling Bournemouth.
But then, with just seconds of stoppage time remaining, Reiss Nelson struck to seal a thrilling 3-2 win for the Premier League leaders to restore their five-point advantage over Manchester City at the top of the table.
It was a crazy ending to a chaotic contest, one that saw Bournemouth take the lead after just 9.11 seconds through Philip Billing, with the second-fastest goal in Premier League history.
Marcos Senesi was then left all alone from a corner to double Bournemouth's advantage just before the hour mark, but Arsenal hit back quickly with goals from Thomas Partey and Ben White to make it 2-2.
The hosts then piled on the pressure looking for a winner, but it looked like they were going to come short as chances came and went.
However, deep into the eighth minute of stoppage time, Nelson stepped up and with one swing of his left foot he sent the Emirates into ecstasy and kept Arsenal firmly in command of an increasingly thrilling title race.
Below, GOAL breaks down the winners and losers from the Emirates…
GettyLOSER: Arsenal's sluggish start
You just can’t concede a goal like Arsenal did straight from the kick-off, it’s just totally unacceptable.
To allow Bournemouth to just play the ball out to the right unopposed and then swing in a cross and score after nine seconds was criminal.
No-one was switched on, as was evident by the way Gabriel Magalhaes slackly allowed the ball to just roll under his foot and into the path of Billing.
It was a disastrous start, one that looked for a long time that Arsenal would not be able to recover from.
Fortunately for them, they managed to turn things round, but when Mikel Arteta sits them down at the training ground on Monday morning he will be far from happy at the way his side allowed a goal like that to happen.
AdvertisementGettyWINNER: Thomas Partey
Nelson has obviously stolen all the headlines because of his match-winning cameo, but Thomas Partey was undoubtedly Arsenal’s star performer on the day.
While several of his team-mates struggled around him, Partey was the one player who consistently pushed the home side forward.
He swept up excellently in midfield, broke up the play and progressed the ball into the attacking areas.
Partey was also the man who started the comeback when he volleyed past Neto from close range to get Arsenal back in the game.
It was an excellent performance from a player Arsenal can ill afford to be without.
GettyLOSER: Leandro Trossard
After such a nightmare start to the game, the last thing Arsenal needed was an injury just to rub salt into the wounds.
But that’s what happened after just 22 minutes when Leandro Trossard was forced off with what looked like a groin problem.
With Eddie Nketiah having joined Gabriel Jesus on the sidelines, Trossard would have been eyeing up a prolonged spell in the side over the coming weeks.
But now Arsenal’s January signing looks set to be joining his new team-mates in the treatment room.
GettyLOSER: Takehiro Tomiyasu
An substandard showing for the usually dependable Tomiyasu is a very rare occurrence, but he had one today.
Handed a start by Arteta, the Japan International struggled throughout the first half.
The link up with Bukayo Saka just wasn’t there, in fact at times it felt like Tomiyasu was getting in the winger’s way. And when he did find some space down the right, his delivery was often wasteful.
It was no surprise when Tomiyasu failed to reappear for the second half, with Ben White coming on to replace him…