Arsenal 5-1 Bournemouth: Report, Ratings & Reaction as the Gunners Thrash the Cherries

Arsenal put Bournemouth to the sword as they kept their place in the top four of the Premier League on Wednesday evening.

Arsenal got off to the perfect start within four minutes, Mesut Ozil was played through by Sead Kolasinac and finished well past Artur Boruc who was deceived by the bounce of the ball.

The Gunners doubled their lead after an awful Adam Smith mistake where he gifted Arsenal possession. Ozil played a great one-two with Henrikh Mkhitaryan and the latter tapped home to make it two.

Arsenal's lead was cut short minutes after their second goal as Matteo Guendouzi cheaply lost possession on the edge of the box - Dan Gosling snatched it off the Frenchman and passed to Lys Mousset who couldn't miss. 

The night got better for Arsenal as they scored a third less than two minutes into the second half as Laurent Koscielny got on the end of a Mkhitaryan cross.

Arsenal made it four after a great ball by Mkhitaryan to Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang who got round the keeper brilliantly to score. Substitute Alexandre Lacazette put the icing on the cake from a free kick as his curling effort was too much for Boruc in the Cherries goal.

Check out our breakdown of the game below

Arsenal

Key Talking Point
The Gunners consolidated their place in the top four with an attacking masterclass in front of the Arsenal faithful.

They were oozing with confidence and were playing with a swagger which will have no doubt impressed Unai Emery. Two goals in the first 20 minutes was a fair reflection of their dominance and it could have been more.

Arsenal looked fantastic, they were passing it about with pace and precision and looked like a team full of confidence. Every time they got forward they looked like scoring and frankly could have put more than five past a hapless Cherries defence.

Player Ratings

Starting XI: Leno (6); Sokratis (6), Koscielny (7), Monreal (6); Jenkinson (6), Guendouzi (6), Torreira (7), Kolasinac (7); Mkhitaryan (9*), Ozil (8); Aubameyang (6)

Substitutes: Iwobi (6) Lacazette (7) Suarez (6)

Star Man

Mkhitaryan was simply brilliant. He was given licence to roam and to work his magic and boy did he do that. He deserved his goal and created chance after chance, it was arguably his best performance in an Arsenal shirt and he was the best player on the pitch.

Bournemouth

Key Talking Point
The Cherries' awful away form continued as they haven't won a game on their travels since October.

Howe's team responded well to going behind when they switched to a 4-3-3 formation and should have been level 20 minutes in. Ryan Fraser was through on goal, but was denied thanks to a brilliant save from Bernd Leno.

Howe's team responded well to going behind when they switched to a 4-3-3 formation and should have been level 20 minutes in. Ryan Fraser was through on goal, but was denied thanks to a brilliant save from Bernd Leno.

They managed to get a goal back through Mousset, but they will have rued their chance to go in level at the break.

Bournemouth fell apart and couldn't deal with the pace of the Arsenal attackers and failed to spark any comeback. Howe's team are seriously struggling with injuries and the lack of depth in their squad was clearly evident.

If the Cherries can tighten it up at the back they could potentially have a good end to the season, but will want to forget this one as soon as possible.

Player Ratings

Starting XI: Boruc (5); Clyne (5), Mepham (5), Ake (6), Smith (5); Ibe (6), Gosling (6), Surman (6), Fraser (6); Mousset (7), King (6)

Substitutes: Daniels (6) (Rico (6) Surridge (N/A)

Star Man

Lys Mousset was the best of a bad bunch against Arsenal and there were very few Bournemouth players who put in a performance they could be proud of. He took his goal well and it will no doubt be a weight off his shoulders to get his first of the season.

Looking Ahead

​​Arsenal have arguably the biggest game of their season next as they travel to Wembley to face Tottenham, before a trip to France to face Stade Rennes in the Europa League.

Bournemouth face a tricky test against Manchester City at the Vitality Stadium and then travel to Yorkshire to face a struggling Huddersfield side.