Arsenal came back from three goals down to battle to a 3-3 draw against ten-man Bournemouth on Tuesday night in the English Premier League, with the result seeing them slip to fourth in the league table.
The Cherries had raced to a three-goal lead after some lackadaisical defending from the visiting side, with full-back Charlie Daniels opening the scoring as early on in the first half.
Granit Xhaka then compounded the Gunners’ misery by pushing Ryan Fraser on the edge of the box, giving referee Michael Oliver with no choice but to point to the spot. A silly challenge, considering the winger was going away from goal and Callum Wilson went down the middle with his spot-kick, doubling the home side’s advantage in the 21st minute.
And when Fraser scored his side’s third two minutes before the hour-mark, it seemed to be game-over.
Credit to Arsenal, however, as Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud sparked a stunning comeback as they avoided what could have been an embarrassing defeat.
Sanchez headed in from close range in the 70th minute to reduce the deficit before substitute Lucas Perez scored a stunning volley five minutes later to renew Arsenal’s hopes.
After Simon Francis was given his marching orders in the 83rd minute, another Arsenal goal seemed inevitable and it came via their French striker, Giroud, whose glancing header beat Artur Boruc in the 92nd minute to earn a vital point at the Vitality stadium (pun unintended).
Considering the circumstances of the point, Arsenal will have to be content with avoiding defeat, but with league leaders Chelsea eight points clear with a game in hand, perhaps it will be another season of frustration for Gunners fans.