Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport

Arsenal 5 Bournemouth 1: Mesut Ozil leads five-star Gunners to Emirates win

Arsenal ensured they go into Saturday's North London derby inside the top four with a thumping win over Bournemouth at the Emirates.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan starred with a goal and two assists, while Mesut Ozil also impressed as the Gunners ran out comfortable 5-1 winners.

Unai Emery made six changes to the side that beat Huddersfield on Sunday, with Ozil given a first league start since January, and Carl Jenkinson his first since November 2016.

Dominic Solanke was the latest addition to Bournemouth's injury list, but Eddie Howe did at least have David Brooks back in the squad.

The home side were on the front foot from the word go, and took the lead after four minutes when Sead Kolasniac fed Ozil, and the German finished brilliantly with his trademark unorthodox chipped finish, pushing the ball down into the ground and up over Artur Boruc.

The Gunners has their second before the half hour mark when Mkhitaryan exchanged passes with Ozil and fired home, and it looked as if a Wednesday night stroll was on the cards.

However, Arsenal gifted Bournemouth a route back into the game when Matteo Guendouzi was caught on it by Dan Gosling, who teed up Lys Mousset to reduce the deficit.

Just as they had at the start of the first half, Arsenal started the second with a goal, Laurent Koscielny's effort just about crossing the line before Boruc could claw it away, though Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was on hand to make sure if it hadn't.

Ozil then hit the woodwork after a lovely one-two with Aubameyang, before Gosling did the same for the visitors after a deflection off Nacho Monreal.

But the points, and Arsenal's top four status, were made safe when Mkhitaryan drove from the edge of his own box to send Aubameyang clear, and the Gabonese rounded Boruc to stroke home.

Alexandre Lacazette, on off the bench, then added a fifth late on with a curling free-kick.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.