Arsenal fans were left scratching their heads after being denied a penalty for a handball during their Premier League clash with Bournemouth. Arsenal recovered from a two-goal deficit to defeat Bournemouth 3-2 on Saturday afternoon, as Reiss Nelson’s 97th-minute winner restored the Gunners’ five-point lead at the Premier League summit....CONTINUE READING THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
Bournemouth manager Gary O’Neil earnestly described the Emirates Stadium as “the toughest place to go” and “the biggest test you can face” before the match. Yet, his side made a mockery of that lofty billing within ten seconds of the opening whistle.
Arsenal stunned Bournemouth to come back from two goals down and beat the Cherries thanks to a 97th minute strike from Reiss Nelson. Philip Billing opened the scoring with the Premier League’s second fastest ever goal on 9.11 seconds, and went 2-0 up when Marco Sensi headed past Aaron Ramsdale on 57 minutes.
Thomas Partey pulled one back with just over 25 minutes to go, before Ben White struck an effort over the line eight minutes later. Nelson’s last second winner prompted jubilant celebrations from the Arsenal fans and manager Mikel Arteta, who celebrated with his players after running down the sidelines.
The Gunners appealed for a penalty as they chased an equaliser after Bournemouth broke the deadlock at the Emirates Stadium. With Arsenal on the attack, Bournemouth’s Chris Mepham jumped in the box to attempt a header but missed the ball and it struck his outstretched arm.
Referee Chris Kavanagh waved away the appeals from the Arsenal players, however, and VAR did not intervene. The reason given was that it was deemed accidental and his arm not in an unnatural enough position to justify the awarding of a penalty.
