The Spaniard had to step in to calm things down (Picture: Getty Images)
Arsenal were so amped up before Saturday’s 3-0 win over Bournemouth that manager Mikel Arteta was reportedly forced to step in and stop their final training session early.
The Gunners restored their four-point advantage at the top of the Premier League table thanks to a penalty from Bukayo Saka and second-half strikes from Leandro Trossard and Declan Rice, with Manchester City not in action until the day’s evening kick-off against Wolves.
Arsenal enjoyed total domination over their opponents during the opening 45 minutes, racking up 16 shots while the visitors only mustered one.
The north Londoners also attempted 10 tackles, nine of which were successful, as they pressed and harried Bournemouth into submission and in truth they should have gone into the half-time break further ahead – even if there was some controversy over Kai Havertz’s trailing leg for the penalty.
Bournemouth made much more of a game of it in the second half and had several good opportunities to equalise, though their momentum was halted when Trossard doubled the lead in the 70th minute.
There was another moment of controversy soon after when Bournemouth were denied a goal, with Dominic Solanke rather harshly adjudged to have impeded David Raya, and the Gunners were able to see out the win and bank three more precious points with Rice adding a third late on.
During Arsenal’s blistering first-half display, TNT Sports commentator Darren Fletcher revealed that the Gunners were so fired up going into the match that Arteta actually had to halt Friday’s final training session early because the players were bringing so much energy – and tenacity – to the session.
Arsenal flew out of the traps in Saturday’s win (Picture: AP)
‘They’re really impressing early on here, Arsenal,’ said Fletcher during the early stages of the match.
Co-commentator Lucy Ward replied: ‘Yeah they’re at it, Arsenal. They’ve started at a lot higher tempo than Bournemouth.’
Fletcher then revealed: ‘It was whispered to me earlier this morning that the final training session yesterday was pretty high in tempo and physicality.
‘So much so that Mikel Arteta felt the need just to calm it down a little bit, call an earlier halt than he would have liked to have done.
Arteta had to calm things down in Friday’s training session (Picture: Getty)
‘But very, very pleased with what he saw from his players and that aggression is what we’re seeing here in the early moments.’
Speaking about Arsenal’s first-half display, Rice said afterwards: ‘I think you saw in the first half it was domination. We could have been four or five up if I’m being honest with you. I missed a sitter and I was fuming to be honest.’
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The result puts Arsenal on 83 points with two games left to play, while the 3-0 victory has also bolstered their goal difference even further – with the Gunners now +10 over Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola’s side are four points further back with two games in hand, the first of which comes on Saturday evening at home to Wolves.
After that, City face back-to-back away trips to London to face Fulham and Tottenham before hosting West Ham on the final day, while Arsenal have a mouth-watering trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United next weekend followed by a home clash with Everton.
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