Declan Rice showed why he is the leading candidate for Premier League player of the season by inspiring a comeback on Saturday to beat Bournemouth and open a six-point lead at the top of the table.
The England midfielder scored two second-half goals in a 3-2 win on the south coast.
Rice was doubtful before the match due to a knee injury that forced him to miss Tuesday’s 4-1 win over Aston Villa. But he was fit enough to come back and make the difference between the teams.
Arsenal fell behind after 10 minutes when Evanilson scored into an unprotected net after intercepting a disastrous deep pass from Gabriel Magalhaes.
The Brazilian central defender redeemed himself by scoring the equalizer six minutes later, following a zigzagging run by Noni Madueke, for a second goal in as many games since his return after six weeks injured.
After Rice’s double, a long-range shot from Bournemouth substitute Eli Junior Kroupi in the 76th tense the finale, but Arsenal held on to record their fifth consecutive victory, keeping Villa and Manchester City at arm’s length in the title race.
Aston Villa are Arsenal’s closest rivals after a 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest.
City can return to second place, four points behind Arsenal, if they beat Chelsea on Sunday.
recovering
Aston Villa put their first defeat in two months behind them – against Arsenal – when captain John McGinn scored twice in the second half, extending the early lead of England striker Ollie Watkins, who opened the scoring with a long-range goal in first-half stoppage time.
Morgan Gibbs-White had reduced the deficit to 2-1 in the 61st minute, only for McGinn to restore Villa’s two-goal lead after a mistake by Forest goalkeeper John Victor, who left his area in an attempt to collect a ball. McGinn easily beat Victor and sent the ball into the net from 30 yards (meters).
Victor was injured immediately after the goal.
Villa’s 11-game winning streak, which included eight league wins, was interrupted by a 4-1 loss to Arsenal on Tuesday.
Wolves finally win
Wolves beat West Ham 3-0 to end their historically poor start to a top-flight season.
It has taken no team this long to record their first Premier League victory since the competition’s inception in 1992.
Jhon Arias, Hwang Hee-chan and Mateus Mané scored goals in the first half for the Wolves, who earned six points, still 12 away from safety with 18 games remaining.
The team is only six points behind second-last Burnley, who lost 2-0 at Brighton, and eight points behind second-last West Ham.
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