Bournemouth 0-3 Arsenal: Player ratings as Martin Odegaard brace sends Gunners top of the league

Bournemouth were comfortably swatted aside as Arsenal romped to a 3-0 win on Saturday evening, climbing to the top of the league with a third successive victory to start the season.

Scott Parker described Arsenal as “a team on the upward curve” before watching the Gunners continue their ascent by ploughing through his Bournemouth side.

Gabriel Jesus transferred the form from his unplayable home debut to the south coast. As a deflection dropped out of the sky, Jesus bullied Bournemouth's new arrival Marcos Senesi off the ball, side-stepping Jefferson Lerma before slipping Gabriel Martinelli into the box. The Brazilian's shot was parried to the feet of Martin Odegaard, allowing Arsenal's new skipper to snaffle up a fifth-minute opener.

Only ten minutes had elapsed before Odegaard lashed in a quick-fire second. Ben White cantered forward on the overlap, firing a cutback which Jesus controlled into the path of his captain.

Buoyed by their start to the season and this match, confidence coursed through Arsenal's players in pale pink. Exerting a suffocating monopoly of possession and territory, Arsenal pressed aggressively after each sporadic turnover. The Gunners had more passes in Bournemouth's half than their hosts managed across the pitch in the opening 45 minutes.

Pre-game, Bournemouth's manager and captain both stressed the "massive part to play” of their support. Yet, the Vitality Stadium's home section was emphatically dwarfed by the jubilant travelling fans as Arsenal dominated on the pitch and in the stands.

Bournemouth didn't have a single shot in anger in the first half, prompting Parker to shift into a back-four after the interval.

The Cherries started the second half sharply but had all of their ballooning momentum punctured by William Saliba's superb strike in the 54th minute. Forward for a set piece, Saliba swung his weaker left foot through the ball on the edge of the box, arcing Arsenal's third of the afternoon into the top corner in such spectacular style Oleksandr Zinchenko was left shaking his head in astonishment.

There was little surprise from the Ukrainian or any other spectator when Jesus had the ball in the net in the 72nd minute. However, VAR spotted that Jesus had fractionally strayed offside while scampering onto Odegaard's nonchalant flick around the corner.

By inflicting Bournemouth's first home defeat since February, Arsenal ensured they recorded their best start to a season in 18 years.

Bournemouth vs Arsenal player ratings

1. Bournemouth (3-5-1-1)

GK: Mark Travers - 5/10 - Unable to do anything about Arsenal's clinical finishes but rebuffed Jesus and Eddie Nketiah in the second half.

CB: Chris Mepham - 4/10 - Unable to convey any sense of authority as he was regularly bypassed.

CB: Marcos Senesi - 3/10 - The Argentine was swiftly introduced to the speed, strength and skill of Arsenal's number nine. Had his first Premier League start abruptly halted during the interval.

CB: Lloyd Kelly - 5/10 - Offered Bournemouth's most repeated threat with his long throws.

RWB: Adam Smith - 4/10 - Penned back into his own defensive third as Martinelli breezed by him.

CM: Marcus Tavernier - 5/10 - Failed to exert a meaningful impact on proceedings.

CM: Jefferson Lerma - 4/10 - Back in his favoured midfield role, Lerma looked like he was still out of position.

CM: Ben Pearson - 4/10 - Swamped in midfield as Arsenal's dizzying interplay effortlessly evaded him.

LWB: Jordan Zemura - 5/10 - Eager to get touch-tight to Bukayo Saka, Zemura had mixed success duelling against the winger.

AM: Philip Billing - 5/10 - It's tricky for the 6'4 Dane to fly under the radar but a desperate lack of service saw to that.

ST: Kieffer Moore - 6/10 - Spiritedly battled for the long balls Bournemouth were forced to launch.

SUB: Lewis Cook (46' for Pearson) - 5/10 - Injected a flicker of thrust which was swiftly snuffed out.

SUB: Jaidon Anthony (46' for Senesi) - 5/10 - Struggled to turn the tide after his half-time arrival.

SUB: Ryan Christie (65' for Billing) - 5/10

Manager: Scott Parker - 4/10 - Tried to rectify an awful opening 11 minutes with a pair of half-time changes which momentarily improved the Cherries before conceding again.

2. Arsenal (4-3-3)

GK: Aaron Ramsdale - 4/10 - Given so little to do in the first half, Ramsdale made trouble for himself after the break.

RB: Ben White - 6/10 - Lackadaisical in possession in his own half but repeatedly found room in the half-spaces up the pitch.

CB: William Saliba - 8/10 - Surprisingly beaten in a foot race by Moore as he had a commanding display capped by a miraculous goal.

CB: Gabriel - 7/10 - Got away with a stray hand in Moore's face but made a couple of crucial headers under pressure while defending corners.

LB: Oleksandr Zinchenko - 8/10 - Gobbling up a raft of loose balls and dictating play. Although, his outrageous confidence in possession almost gave way to cockiness at times.

CM: Martin Odegaard - 8/10 - Elegantly breezed between Bournemouth's black and red stripes.

CM: Thomas Partey - 7/10 - Coolly sitting behind the blur of movement ahead of him.

CM: Granit Xhaka - 7/10 - Bounding forward regularly but didn't shirk his defensive duties.

RW: Bukayo Saka - 6/10 - On his 100th Premier League appearance, Saka played more of a subsidiary role holding the width on the right.

ST: Gabriel Jesus - 8/10 - Utterly effervescent. Jesus toyed with each Bournemouth centre-back in turn.

LW: Gabriel Martinelli - 7/10 - Exploits his beguiling ability to burst out of a standing start to beat a defender rather than deceive them with trickery.

SUB: Emile Smith Rowe (74' for Odegaard) - 5/10

SUB: Eddie Nketiah (74' for Martinelli) - 5/10

SUB: Takehiro Tomiyasu (75' for White) - 5/10

SUB: Albert Sambi Lokonga (88' for Saka) - N/A

SUB: Kieran Tierney (88' for Xhaka) - N/A

Manager: Mikel Arteta - 7/10 - Able to sit back and admire his side execute their game plan to perfection.

Player of the Match - Martin Odegaard