Arsenal stage thrilling fightback to maintain five-point lead over Man City
Arsenal recovered from conceding the second fastest goal in Premier League history as Reiss Nelson’s stoppage-time strike gave the Premier League leaders a thrilling 3-2 win over Bournemouth after title rivals Manchester City beat Newcastle 2-0 on Saturday.
But the Gunners showed they can cope with the pressure of the title race with a remarkable comeback that kept them five points ahead of second placed City.
Arsenal hadn’t even touched the ball when Philip Billing gave second-bottom Bournemouth the lead after just 9.11 seconds with a clinical finish from inside the Gunners area.
The quickest goal in Premier League history was scored by Shane Long after 7.69 seconds for Southampton against Watford in 2019.
Arsenal fell further behind in the 57th minute as Marcos Senesi escaped Thomas Partey to glance a header past Aaron Ramsdale from a corner.
Partey made amends for his slack marking five minutes later when he reduced the deficit with a close-range finish from Emile Smith-Rowe’s header.
Underlining their desire to win a first title since 2004, Arsenal seized the momentum and equalised through Ben White’s powerful finish from Nelson’s cross in the 70th minute.
Nelson completed Arsenal’s incredible revival in the seventh minute of stoppage-time when the substitute produced a superb finish from 20 yards to spark scenes of wild celebration all around the Emirates Stadium.
Earlier on Saturday, City rode their luck in a 2-0 win over Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium.
Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva scored the goals for the champions, who were let off the hook by a series of glaring misses from the visitors.
Sean Longstaff, Callum Wilson and Joelinton were all guilty of not even forcing Ederson into a save as fifth placed Newcastle suffered another blow to their hopes of a top-four finish.
