Arsenal – Bournemouth – Unbelievable

• Arsenal – Bournemouth 3-0 (1-0)

Captain Martin Ødegaard delivered another solid game as Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard and Declan Rice got on the scoresheet as Arsenal beat Bournemouth 3-0 in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

Brutal message

The victory leaves Arsenal four points behind second-placed Manchester City, but the light blues have played two fewer games.

Just before half-time, Saka sent Arsenal into the lead from the penalty spot after Kai Havertz went to ground inside the penalty area, but the contact with Bournemouth goalkeeper Mark Travers was minimal. The Arsenal star appeared to seek contact by dragging his left leg along the ground towards the keeper, and also appeared to fall before contact was made.

Despite several minutes of VAR checking, referee David Coote’s decision stood. It led to fierce reactions and strong dissatisfaction in the football community.

– I don’t think it’s a penalty kick. Havertz puts his foot down but it’s not going to be converted, former Premier League referee Mike Dean said on Soccer Saturday.

– Did they let that punishment stand? It’s actually not believable, said Kasper Wikestad at X.

– Of course not punishment

Jan Åge Fjørtoft and Petter Veland also reacted in Viaplay’s studio.

– If we hadn’t had VAR, we would have said we would have liked it, because then this would have been changed. Of course it’s not a penalty. It goes against what I believe should be done in such a situation. Havertz deliberately goes for the penalty kick. The way he leaves his foot is completely unnatural, noted Fjørtoft.

– My problem with this being a penalty kick is that the Premier League has come out and said that they do not want penalty kicks where the contact is soft. This is extreme softthought Veland.

Bloody

Before that time, there were bloody scenes at the Emirates. The aforementioned Saka went down with an injury after a stamp early in the first half. The wing was bleeding from his left leg but managed to continue.

Ødegaard reacted and ran to referee Coote, but Ryan Christie escaped without a card.

– Disgusting, wrote talkSPORT.

– It is really ugly, said expert Lars Tjærnås.

A quarter of an hour before the break, Bournemoth’s Antoine Semenyo probably thought he had reduced it, but the goal was canceled out after a push from Dominic Solanke on David Raya up front.

In the 70th minute, Trassard made it 2-0, before Rice made it 3-0 seven minutes into overtime.

Arsenal lead the Premier League four points ahead of Manchester City, but the light blues have two games less to play.

Bournemouth, on the other hand, are in the middle of the table.