Arsenal and Bournemouth has become a fairly regular Premier League fixture in the past few years.
The Cherries have established themselves as a top-flight mainstay since their first promotion to the Premier League in 2015, returning in 2022 after a couple of seasons away.
Despite only having had a handful of matches against each other, there have been plenty of dazzling goals between the pair.
Here, we count down the 10 best goals from Bournemouth’s matches against the Gunners.
10 Jordon Ibe – January 2018
Jordon Ibe is the first goalscorer on this list and he is etched into the AFC Bournemouth history books as the matchwinner in their first-ever triumph over Arsenal.
Hector Bellerin had given the Gunners the lead at the Vitality Stadium before Callum Wilson made it 1-1.
Wilson then turned provider, with a couple of neat touches setting up Ibe, who made no mistake in powering the ball past goalkeeper Petr Cech – a goal which the Champions League-winning shot-stopper won’t want to see again.
Ibe was a huge prospect at Liverpool, but due to injuries, amongst other reasons, he was never able to live up to the expectations with his most recent stint coming over in Turkey for Adanaspor.
9 Bukayo Saka – January 2020
Bukayo Saka is someone who has lived up to the hype and then some as a Hale End academy graduate, who is now one of Arsenal’s most influential players at just 22 years of age.
Saka has been performing consistently for a few years now and it was him that scored and assisted in the only FA Cup meeting between these two.
He put in a delicious ball that was swept home by Eddie Nketiah, but prior to that, he was fed by Gabriel Martinelli and proceeded to fire the ball into the roof of the net with precision that matched his power.
Sam Surridge scored a late goal for the home side, but it proved to be nothing more than a consolation, with Arsenal progressing to the next stage of the tournament. Mikel Arteta’s men went on to win the FA Cup that year, beating London rivals Chelsea in the final just a few months into the Spaniard’s reign.
8 Jefferson Lerma (OG) – November 2018
Next up is quite a peculiar goal in that it was scored at the wrong end of the field.
Alex Iwobi played it down the line for left-back Sead Kolasinac, whose first-time cross went flying beyond the reaches of Cherries’ Asmir Begovic, courtesy of Jefferson Lerma’s intervention.
It was clear he was just trying to intercept the ball and so it was a rather unfortunate moment for the Colombian midfielder – now of Crystal Palace – and one he won’t be glad to be reminded of.
7 Joshua King – November 2018
From that same game, Lerma’s teammate Josh King scored at the right end to cancel out that mistake – and he did so in emphatic fashion.
A rapid counterattack started by Ryan Fraser was rounded off by King, and is a goal that doesn’t get talked about enough.
Everyone played their part, with Fraser driving forward and finding Callum Wilson, who found David Brooks in the middle of the pitch. The Welshman then let the ball do all the work, picking out King, who made no mistake in curling home an equaliser with his weaker left foot.
Bernd Leno had no chance of reaching the strike, though unfortunately, the same can be said regarding Begovic for the third goal in that game, with Kolasinac putting it on a plate for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to slide home the winner.
6 Olivier Giroud – January 2017
With their maiden win over Arsenal yet to be achieved, AFC Bournemouth looked to be well on the way towards it in early 2017 when they stormed into a 3-0 lead at the Vitality.
Charlie Daniels and Ryan Fraser scored either side of a Callum Wilson penalty, with the home side leading for the best part of an hour.
Olivier Giroud was the man to make the difference for the visitors, though, playing a part in all three of the goals that secured a dramatic comeback.
The Frenchman assisted Alexis Sanchez and Lucas Perez as they gave Arsenal the faintest hope of an unlikely turnaround.
The clock had then ticked into the red in more ways than one as Bournemouth had Simon Francis sent off in their efforts to cling on to the three points.
Giroud’s header beyond the 90th minute and beyond Artur Boruc was a solid enough goal, but it is not only the circumstances that ensure that this goal gets a spot on this list, thanks to the striker’s eye-catching celebration.
He imitated a scorpion kick after scoring one against Crystal Palace just a couple of days prior – a momentous strike that earned him a Puskas award for his troubles.
5 Philip Billing – March 2023
The first goal in the top five was from the most recent meeting between Bournemouth and Arsenal.
There were less than 10 seconds gone in the game at the Emirates when Philip Billing stunned the Gunners faithful into silence.
A training ground move from kick-off worked to perfection with Dango Ouattara bursting down the right and finding Billing in the centre, with the Danish all too glad to oblige.
While the game ended in dramatic fashion, this was the second-fastest goal in Premier League history – not quite beating Shane Long’s strike for Southampton against Watford in the 2018/19 campaign.
4 Mesut Ozil – December 2015
Mesut Ozil assisted a Gabriel Paulista header for the opener against Bournemouth in December 2015.
The German maestro was then amongst the goals himself as he masterminded the Gunners to a 2-0 victory in front of their own fans.
Ozil played the perfect one-two with Olivier Giroud and the striker’s chip in behind set up the German, who made no mistake with the finish.
As was often the case with one of the most technically proficient players to ever grace the Premier League, he made it look so easy and effortless as he let the ball bounce before stroking it past oncoming Cherries’ goalkeeper Boruc.
This 2015/16 season was Ozil’s best in the red of Arsenal statistically by some distance, contributing to 25 Premier League goals, including a ridiculous 19 assists. The following year he may have scored two more goals, but he had 10 fewer assists to his name.
3 Mesut Ozil – February 2019
From one Mesut Ozil goal to another… His goal against the Cherries in February 2019 saw him pull it what many would consider to be his signature move, and a skill that very few players even at that level could master quite like he did.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s goal and two assists look just as impressive as Ozil’s two goal contributions in this 5-1 drubbing of Bournemouth in the capital.
But the first goal of the game, scored by Ozil, is what had everyone talking and set the precedent for the remainder of the contest.
Sead Kolasinac played Ozil through, and with on-lookers unsure as to what he could do from this position, he hit the ball into the ground so that the ball looped up over Boruc perfectly. The goalkeeper scrambled to react and got a fingertip on the ball, but had to admit defeat against a truly special talent.
2 Lucas Perez – January 2017
A forgotten name in red takes second place on this list in the form of Lucas Perez.
It never really worked for the diminutive Spaniard in London, whether that be with Arsenal or West Ham United, although he was able to show a few glimpses of magic.
This strike was the second of three for the Gunners in the aforementioned comeback against AFC Bournemouth that was topped off with Giroud’s aerial dominance.
A smart flick over the defence from Giroud set Perez up, and he had no hesitation in lashing the ball into the far-side netting – making it look relatively simple, too.
Perez returned to his home country after departing the London Stadium and is now playing for his beloved Deportivo La Coruna once again in the Spanish third tier.
1 Reiss Nelson – March 2023
With Philip Billing’s shock opener after ten seconds setting up a nervy afternoon in N5, at the top of the list is a finish at the climax of a bonkers game at the Emirates Stadium from last season.
A back-and-forth affair in north London was decided by substitute Reiss Nelson whilst the clock read 90+7 minutes.
Nelson assisted Ben White’s equaliser just moments after he entered the fray in the place of Emile Smith Rowe, who had himself been subbed on when Leandro Trossard picked up an early injury.
Bournemouth were on the verge of securing a big point when a half-cleared corner found its way to Nelson on the edge of the box. He brought it down and struck the perfect shot with his weaker left foot, with pandemonium ensuing at the Emirates as a result.
