Declan Rice overcame a knee injury to secure a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Bournemouth, extending Arsenal’s advantage at the top of the Premier League to six points.
On Saturday, a rare error from Gabriel Magalhães gave the Cherries the lead through Evanilsson, but the Brazilian quickly recovered to equalize.
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Rice missed Tuesday’s 4-1 win over Aston Villa due to knee swelling and was in doubt.
The England international returned to the starting line-up and scored two clinical goals either side of the hour mark, doubling his record for the season.
Eli Crupi’s superb goal gave Bournemouth hope, but Arsenal comfortably survived the final stages with a seven-point lead over Manchester City, who host a coachless Chelsea on Sunday.
There was a glimmer of hope for Josep Guardiola’s side when Arsenal conceded after just 10 minutes.
Gabriel miscued an attempted cross-field pass towards Julian Timber and passed the ball to his compatriot Evanilsson, who slotted past David Raya for his first home goal of the season.
Arsenal’s towering centre-back scored in his first start for almost two months against Villa in midweek and showed his desire to score again, leveling the scores within six minutes.
Gabriel pounced on Noni Maduke’s deflected cross and smashed it home for his 20th Premier League goal since joining the Gunners in 2020. This is 7 more goals than any other defender.
Rice has also become a useful source of important goals since being given a more advanced role this season.
He was picked out perfectly by Martin Odegaard and slotted into goal from the edge of the box to put the visitors ahead in the 56th minute.
Rice cut back and Bukayo Saka came off the bench to score Arsenal’s third goal.
Bournemouth remain without a win in 11 games up to October 26th.
But only five teams have scored more goals in the Premier League this season than Andoni Iraola’s side.
Clopi’s stunning long-range shot marked a tense finale.
But Mikel Arteta’s side held firm to take another big step towards ending their 22-year wait for the Premier League title.
Villa beat Forest, West Ham ’embarrassed’ by Wolves
Aston Villa beat struggling Nottingham Forest 3-1 in their home fortress, easing the pain of being beaten by Arsenal in midweek and moving past Manchester City into second place in the Premier League.
Olly Watkins’ goal just before half-time gave Unai Emery’s side a deserved lead, and John McGinn scored the visitors’ brace in the second half, sandwiching a goal from Morgan Gibbs-White.
Villa’s run of 11 consecutive wins in all competitions came to a shocking halt with a 4-1 defeat at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday, raising questions about their ability to maintain their title charge.
But their impressive record at Villa Park remains intact, with 11 consecutive wins at Villa Park since losing 3-0 to Crystal Palace in August.
Villa manager Emery told Sky Sports that the players and coaching staff held a meeting after the humiliating loss to Arsenal.
“I’m very happy,” he said. “We needed to get our energy and confidence back. Here at Villa Park, the energy we created was really important.”
“Forest are competitive. I met with the players and staff after the Arsenal game. How they are doing this season, how they are feeling, how they need to have the same consistency as before, how they need to come together and be strong.”
Villa started brightly on a bitingly cold day in Birmingham but struggled to take the lead in a lukewarm first half.
However, Watkins, who was in good form, broke the deadlock just before the end of the first half, when the team had nearly 80% possession.
The England international received the ball outside the area from Morgan Rodgers and fired home his fourth goal in three games.
McGinn extended Villa’s lead to two points in the 49th minute with a side-footed goal from Matty Cash’s cross.
Villa looked to be down, but Forest got back into the game in the 61st minute with a fine finish from Gibbs-White, who slotted past a diving Emi Martinez.
The home side were awarded a third goal in the 73rd minute when Forest goalkeeper John Victor inexplicably missed a long ball from Youri Tielemans, despite having a defender nearby.
Scotland midfielder McGinn collected the ball and kept his cool, evading Victor and firing the ball into the empty net with his left foot from outside the area.
The victory took Villa to 42 points, one ahead of Josep Guardiola’s Manchester City, who host absentee Chelsea on Sunday.
Forest, who suffered four consecutive league defeats, remain one place above the relegation zone and are four points behind bottom-placed West Ham, who lost 3-0 to Wolves.
“The first half was embarrassing. We have to apologize to the fans. This is not what we want to show,” embattled Hammers manager Nuno Espirito Santo said after the match.
Elsewhere, second-bottom Burnley lost 2-0 to Brighton & Hove Albion.
