Bournemouth came from behind to keep their European hopes alive with a 2-1 victory over Arsenal on Saturday afternoon. The Gunners led through Declan Rice but gradually lost control of the game in the second half, and Andoni Iraola’s side made them pay.

The Gunners went full strength in the hope of building momentum ahead of their Champions League semi-final second leg clash against PSG next week, but the decision did not bear fruit and Mikel Arteta will hope that the defeat has not sapped the energy and confidence out of his ranks.

Rice opened the scoring for the Gunners in the 34th minute with a well-taken goal, rounding Kepa Arrizabalaga before firing into an empty net after being slipped through by Martin Odegaard. But Bournemouth gradually worked their way back into the game and levelled after 67 minutes when Dean Huijsen rose highest to head Antoine Semenyo’s throw past David Raya. Evanilson then turned the game on its head just eight minutes later by bundling home a flick at the back post to silence the Emirates Stadium.

Express Sport brings you the player ratings for Arteta's side...

Arsenal player ratings vs Bournemouth (4-3-3-)

David Raya: 5

An unusually erratic performance from the goalkeeper. Made a few sloppy passes and will be disappointed with his movement and reaction time to Evanilson’s strike.

Ben White: 6 (86', Zinchenko)

Arsenal are a far more fluid system with the right-back in the team but he is still working towards match fitness and looked rusty at times. Struggled to link up with Bukayo Saka and was caught too far up the field on a handful of occasions which Bournemouth looked to exploit.

William Saliba: 7

Strong performance from the centre-back, producing an excellent last-ditch tackle to deny Dango Ouattara in the first half and made amends for some of his teammate’s shaky showings.

Jakub Kiwior: 6

Not his best performance since stepping up in the absence of Gabriel. Caught out of position on a handful of occasions and left Saliba with a greater workload. Will need to bounce back or else he will have a tough evening on his hands in Paris.

Myles Lewis-Skelly: 6 

Tidyperformance from the teenager up against a pacey Bournemouth attack, showing maturity beyond his years to ensure he was not caught on the break but that came at the expense of his attacking threat. Looked to make things happen centrally when possible.

Thomas Partey: 6

Although his positioning brings out the very best in Rice and facilitates his movement forward, the midfielder struggled against the Cherries. The Ghana international was sloppy in possession and lacked conviction when trying to drive the ball forward from deep areas.

Martin Odegaard: 5

After a slow few weeks, the playmaker will have been pleased to pick up an assist for Rice’s opener. However, despite the neat pass, Odegaard soon lost his confidence again and returned to his frustrating, risk-free style of buildup. Wasn’t strong enough for Bournemouth’s second either.

Declan Rice: 7 (74’, Merino)

Another impressive performance by the midfielder, who is proving to be just as effective offensively as he is defensively this season. The England international took his goal well and could have bagged at least another with his late runs into the penalty area.

Gabriel Martinelli: 6 (86', Sterling)

The Brazilian caused plenty of problems for Julian Araujo down the left early on, creating several chances for Rice and Trossard. Not as effective when drifting into central areas.

Leandro Trossard: 6

The Belgium international linked up play well but lacks the ability to be a focal point, which let his side down. The Gunners missed Mikel Merino in that regard.

Bukayo Saka: 5 (86', Nwaneri)

Very quiet afternoon from the winger, with Bournemouth's Milos Kerkez enhancing his reputation with a strong performance in left-back. Saka resisted the urge to take on his man and rarely made himself an option. Certainly a surprise to see him play 86 minutes given how he struggled and there is such a big game on the horizon for the Gunners.

Substitutes

Mikel Merino: 6. Kept play ticking when deployed in midfield but Arsenal did not enjoy enough possession towards the end of the match for him to make an impact.

Ethan Nwaneri: N/A

Raheem Sterling: N/A

Oleksandr Zinchenko: N/A