Bournemouth come from behind to stun Arsenal

LONDON: Arsenal lost further ground on the Premier League’s top four after struggling Bournemouth came from behind to beat them 2-1 on Sunday.

After Hector Bellerin fired through Asmir Begovic to open the scoring for Arsenal in the 52nd minute, Callum Wilson and Jordon Ibe scored within five second-half minutes to turn the game on its head.

First Wilson converted Ryan Fraser’s teasing cross to restore parity in the 70th minute before Ibe fired home a second having been teed up by the scorer of Bournemouth’s first.Alexis Sanchez, heavily linked with an exit from the Emirates, was left out of Arsenal’s squad with manager Arsene Wenger saying before the game that a decision on his future was “imminent”.

Having won just one of their last five Premier League matches, Arsenal remain sixth with 39 points — five behind rivals Tottenham Hotspur in fifth.Bournemouth, meanwhile, climb to 13th but remain just four points above the bottom three.

“It’s a fantastic win because we need to pick up our home form,” man-of-the-match Wilson told Sky Sports.“The fans were flat so we needed to get them back in the game and a goal against a big team got them on their feet and then we added a second.

“It’s a massive lift. Those points lift us further away from the bottom three.”Desperate for a win, the visitors started brightly on the south coast with youngster Ainsley Maitland-Niles firing against the crossbar in the eighth minute.

Despite dictating much of the early possession, Arsenal clearly missed their more illustrious attacking talents with Alexandre Lacazette cutting a lonely figure without the cutting edge of Sanchez and the injured Mesut Ozil.

Bournemouth grew into the contest before the break and were aggrieved not to receive a penalty when Alex Iwobi appeared to handle Ibe’s cross just moments before a desperate Calum Chambers block kept out Dan Gosling’s goalbound effort.

The break came at the wrong time for the hosts who found themselves behind soon after when Bellerin — set free by a superb Iwobi ball — fired through Begovic’s hand.But with a much-needed three points there for the taking, Arsenal capitulated against their spirited hosts.

First Petr Cech was unable to cut out Fraser’s teasing cross with Wilson converting before Ibe smashed home after Wilson did brilliantly to tee him up.In search of a late equaliser, Arsenal brought on Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey but they were unable to rescue another desperately disappointing afternoon.

On Saturday night, Harry Kane continued his rich scoring streak by netting twice in Tottenham Hotspur’s 4-0 win over Everton at Wembley as Mauricio Pochettino’s side made up ground on third-placed Chelsea who shared a goalless draw with 10-man Leicester City.

For a while, it looked as if Kane might be outshone by his teammate Son Heung-min, who scored in a home game for the fifth successive time.Then Kane took over to net in the 47th and 59th minutes to take his season’s league tally to 20, the fourth consecutive campaign he has reached the landmark.

Christian Eriksen rounded off a cleverly worked team move, again featuring Son, for Spurs’ fourth as Everton crashed to their heaviest defeat under Sam Allardyce, who gave a debut to 27 million pound ($37 million) new signing Cenk Tosun.

Antonio Conte’s side missed the chance to go second as Leicester hung on for a draw at Stamford Bridge despite the 68th-minute dismissal of Ben Chilwell.It was the third successive game in all competitions that Chelsea failed to score, with striker Alvaro Morata looking frustrated and short of confidence.

Elsewhere, there were more controversial refereeing decisions as English football continued to debate whether the video assistant referee (VAR) system, which was tested in some cup games last week, would benefit the Premier League.

The first flashpoint occurred at Vicarage Road where TV replays revealed Watford’s Abdoulaye Doucoure bundled the ball over the line with his right hand in the 2-2 draw with Southampton.A seventh Premier League defeat in eight games had looked likely for Marco Silva’s side after James Ward-Prowse scored twice but Andre Gray set up a thrilling finale before Doucoure’s contribution led to furious Southampton protests.

“We can do nothing now,” said Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino diplomatically.However, Watford striker Troy Deeney admitted that had the VAR system been in operation “we probably wouldn’t have got it”.

At Newcastle United, bottom side Swansea City believed they were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty when Mohamed Diame appeared to handle the ball.Swansea manager Carlos Carvalhal said: My assistant says that it’s a very clear penalty and a red card also, but what can we do? Nothing, only talk about this. “

There was nothing controversial about West Ham United’s 4-1 destruction of Huddersfield Town, a victory that puts the Hammers 11th in the table.When David Moyes took over as West Ham manager, many observers questioned his ability to get the team scoring again.

But the Scot has proved all the doubters wrong with the London side scoring 12 goals from his past five league games in charge.A Manuel Lanzini double plus strikes from Mark Noble and the impressive Marko Arnautovic gave the visitors a comfortable victory that took them above Huddersfield, for whom Joe Lolley scored and new 14 million pound ($19.2 million) signing Alex Pritchard came on as a substitute.

The win was Moyes’ 200th in the Premier League, a landmark reached by only three other managers.At Selhurst Park, Crystal Palace’s revival under Roy Hodgson continued with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Burnley which moved them five points above the relegation zone.

Alan Pardew was another manager breathing easier after West Bromwich Albion beat Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0 to record their first win in 21 league games and his first in nine as their manager.