At a Glance:
- Arsenal lost 2-1 to Bournemouth on Saturday in the Premier League.
- The Gunners were dreadful against the Cherries.
- Viktor Gyokeres has explained what he thinks went wrong for his team.
Arsenal suffered a devastating blow in their pursuit of the Premier League title on Saturday afternoon, producing a dire performance as they lost at home to Bournemouth.
Junior Kroupi gave the Cherries the lead early on when he tapped home at the back post, before Viktor Gyokeres’ emphatic penalty levelled the scoring before half-time. Alex Scott then won the game for the travelling side, tucking past David Raya after neat combination play involving Evanilson.
While the Gunners remain nine points clear of Manchester City, the Citizens now have two games in hand, as well as all the momentum in the race for the title.
Viktor Gyokeres says the ‘pitch was dry’ in Arsenal vs Bournemouth
Arsenal emerge from Saturday’s game with very little credit. Not only were they toothless in attack, but they also looked vulnerable defensively, with Bournemouth’s long balls and high press causing Mikel Arteta’s team all sorts of issues.
They’ll need to bounce back when they host Sporting in midweek at the Emirates, otherwise their season is at risk of unravelling. Gyokeres, who scored and played the full 90 minutes for the North Londoners, has cited two specific factors that he felt contributed to Arsenal’s defeat on Saturday.
Speaking to Match of the Day, the Swede blamed the Gunners’ inability to take their chances, as well as a dry pitch, for their loss.
🗣️ Viktor Gyökeres: “The pitch was maybe a bit dry there to be honest, so that doesn’t help.” ❌ pic.twitter.com/17jCetVSjG
— DailyAFC (@DailyAFC) April 11, 2026
“Yeah of course, we had some okay chances in the end,” he said.
“The pitch was maybe a bit dry there, to be honest, so that didn’t help but of course, like I said we all need to do better and need to take our chances.
“Yeah, very confident [that Arsenal can turn things around]. I think, we don’t need to get stuck to much on what happened today. We need to look forward and think positive and look forward to the games.”
What Leandro Trossard said after Arsenal’s loss to Bournemouth
Trossard, who was introduced as part of a triple substitution in the 53rd minute, was less forgiving of his team. While the Belgian winger did cite injuries as a factor, he lamented the Gunners’ overall performance, calling out the drop in standards.
🗣️ "We have some injuries but we don't need to make any excuses, today wasn't at our level where we're supposed to be."@LTrossard's reaction to today's 2-1 home defeat against Bournemouth.
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) April 11, 2026
🎤 @CarrieBrownTV #beINPL #ARSBOU #Arsenal pic.twitter.com/czy3OAFsF3
“Yeah, we have some injuries, but I think we don’t need to make any excuses,” he told BeIN Sports.
“Today wasn’t at our level or where we’re supposed to be. As I said, we need to learn from this as well. We play again in the midweek, so we need to turn this around quickly and get our heads on the same way.
“It was for sure [an opportunity missed]. Everyone is disappointed with the result. We wanted to win this game, and it was a big game for us, but we cannot change it anymore. We can only look towards the next games, and we need to take this in, and get better ahead of next week.
“Of course [Arsenal can still win the league]. We have to believe. We’re still in a very good position. We’re still top of the league, as I said, we have a very big game on Wednesday as well and I understand the disappointment. We are disappointed as well, we want to win every game.”
