BOURNEMOUTH, England, Jan 3 : Declan Rice scored twice as Arsenal shrugged off a poor start to beat Bournemouth 3-2 away and open up a commanding six-point lead at the top of the Premier League on Saturday.
Rice, back after missing the 4-1 defeat of Aston Villa because of injury, slotted a shot past Dorde Petrovic early in the second half to put Arsenal in front and found the net again after being set up by substitute Bukayo Saka.
Bournemouth were gifted the lead in the 10th minute when Arsenal’s usually impeccable defender Gabriel passed straight to home striker Evanilson who finished with ease.
But Gabriel soon made amends for his rare error when he fired in an equaliser six minutes later.
Arsenal appeared to be cruising after Rice’s double but substitute Junior Kroupi smashed a shot past David Raya to set up an anxious finale for the visitors.
Mikel Arteta’s side hung on for a fifth successive victory to pile the pressure on Manchester City who will hope to cut the deficit to four points by beating Chelsea on Sunday.
Arsenal have 48 points from 20 games with Aston Villa on 42 and City, who have played a game less, on 41.
When Gabriel’s wayward pass was punished, Arsenal’s title rivals would have been relishing the possibility of a slip-up by the London club who have led the table for most of the season.
Instead, Arteta’s side again showed they have the resolve to go all the way this time and seal a first title since 2004, having been runners-up for the past three seasons.
Key to everything was Rice, who once again produced a complete midfield performance.
Showing no sign of the knee injury that meant he missed his first league game of the season against Villa, Rice set the example and struck his first goals since November 1.
His first goal was clinical as he placed a shot inside the post from the edge of the area after being picked out by captain Martin Odegaard.
Arsenal’s strength in depth was underlined as Arteta sent on substitutes Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus and Saka with around 20 minutes to go and it was Saka who teed up Rice for his second goal.
Bournemouth have now gone 11 league games without a win and look as though they will be losing forward Antoine Semenyo in the transfer window.
After the final whistle the player linked to Manchester City waved at the fans before trudging down the tunnel.
(Reporting by Martyn HermanEditing by Christian Radnedge and Clare Fallon)
