4th January 2017

Well, that Arsenal game was something special huh?

Bournemouth 3-3 Arsenal

Arsene Wenger said very late in 2016 that this had been a very disappointing Premier League season with too few teams playing good attacking football and no real quality games. I mean he was completely wrong, but nevertheless it's nice to see his team taking his message to heart by producing easily the best game of 2017 so far. 

But whilst Arsenal's remarkable comeback deserves credit, Bournemouth deserve even more credit, as they were absolutely phenomenal and played the Gunners off the park and but for some bad luck with injuries and the red card to Simon Francis, they would have held out. But Ryan Fraser limping off, coupled with the harsh sending off of Francis derailed their charge, and after Ryan Gosling fired over a golden chance at 3-2, there was a real sense of the inevitable before Olivier Giroud fired the Gunners level. 

But back to the beginning and it was a nightmare start for the Gunners as Bournemouth started the game the better team and their dominance was rewarded when neither Ramsey nor Bellerin tracked the run of constant menace Charlie Daniels, who cut inside past the hapless Bellerin and fired in. 1-0. And it was that Bournemouth left which was a constant outlet for the Cherries, with all three goals coming down that side. Bellerin did not look fit or up to the task, and he simply wasn't getting enough cover from his teammates, as Arsenal's lopsided defence struggled to cope. 

The second goal was very good refereeing from a clinical counter-attack, as Wilson broke and was fouled, but manage to free man of the match Fraser. Michael Oliver let the game go, and the Scot was bundled over by Granit Xhaka, whose lack of discipline once again cost his side dearly. Wilson dispatched the resulting pen and Arsenal were 2-0 down inside 20 minutes. 

Things showed no signs of improvement for Arsenal and frankly, it looked more likely to be 3-0 before it became 2-1. And sure enough, after half time, Bournemouth upped the ante again, and Wilson had a goal harshly ruled out for handball. The ball clearly went in off his arm but it's hard to see what he could have done with his limbs to prevent them getting in the way. In any case, it was about as marginal a decision as the one that saw Bournemouth actually score their third goal, as Fraser charged into the channel and used his strength on Bellerin. The Spaniard went over, no foul was given and Fraser slotted under a poor Petr Cech. 

Simply put, Arsenal were woeful. They were significantly better in the final twenty minutes, but shorn of Ozil, Elneny and Walcott, they lacked pace, intensity, power or control, with Aaron Ramsey anonymous, Xhaka lumbering and Giroud isolated. And once they finally were able to start putting balls into the box and feeding Giroud, as the lively Fraser was forced off and they were given some respite. And all three goals came through Giroud headers, as he flicked the ball on for Sanchez who managed to dart in behind Francis to make it 3-1, and then Perez turned on the spot with a stunning left foot volley after Giroud turned the ball on to him. 

At 3-2, with Arsenal thoroughly on top, the last thing Bournemouth needed was to go down to ten men, as Francis was sent off for a reckless challenge, that was probably just a booking. But overall I'm loathe to criticise Michael Oliver too much, as he had a lot of big and tough decisions to make in this game and got the majority of them right. 

But although there are a lot of pivotal moments where Bournemouth could have turned the game the other way, ultimately the moment that mattered fell to Olivier Giroud, who managed to almost shoulder the ball into the bottom corner to snatch a point for Arsenal. 

Overall, Bournemouth will be gutted to have dropped two points in this game, but shouldn't feel too disheartened. They turned in a brilliant performance overall, and on another day would have won easily. They remain 9th in the league, which is more than almost anyone expected of them and they're a really talented side led by a great young manager.

As for Arsenal, it's important not to let the brilliant nature of their comeback overshadow the fact that they dropped two points in this game, and that their performance for the vast majority of it was utterly shocking. Yes the comeback itself was magnificent, but they could well either be 11 points off Chelsea, or outside the top four at close of play tonight. Their season has threatened to implode around them again and whilst comebacks like this one will add some strength to their revival, they're in real danger of slipping away. 

Spurs v Chelsea (8pm)

Well, this is the big one isn't it. It's quite rare that we get to say that the title race could be over in January, but frankly, if Chelsea win this then the title race is all but over. Should Chelsea beat Spurs and move to 52 points, then Liverpool will be 8 points behind, and the only team within single digits of the Blues. To be blunt, Chelsea haven't dropped ten points yet this season and there's very little to indicate that they're going to drop ten more. I fancy that any of Man United, Arsenal, City and Spurs could win every single game between now and the end of the season and they still wouldn't win the league. 

But I'm getting ahead of myself, because a trip to White Hart Lane is the perfect opportunity for Chelsea to slip up. To be honest a point from this game wouldn't be a bad result for Chelsea at all, it would keep their gap at the top to six points, a gap that they'll be hoping to extend before their crunch trip to Anfield at the end of the month, with Liverpool off to Old Trafford in a week and a half. 

But make no mistake, Chelsea will be looking to win this game. I'm curious to see how Conte might play it if we get to 70/75 minutes and the match is level, but I don't think he'll go on the defensive too much. Chelsea have a set system, a set way of playing and it's proved ruthlessly efficient so far. To suggest that they're unstoppable is false, as I've pointed out multiple times that they've looked vulnerable, but it is fair to say that nobody has found a way to stop them since they switched to 3 at the back. 

But Spurs are unbeaten at the Lane and it would be foolish to write them off, given how good the home side have been at recent weeks. Moreover, they have the individual talent with the likes of Kane, Alli and Aldeweireld to match Chelsea's players, and their pressing system is the perfect counter-weight to Chelsea's system. 

So on paper, this should be a cracker, and Spurs will feel that they have what it takes to at least get a point from this one. My money is on a draw. 

The Hard and Fast Section

• Palace imploded at home to Swansea. Oh boy. 
• Hull have sacked Mike Phelan. Ohhhhh boy. 
• Mike Dean to referee another televised Spurs game. Ohhhhhhh boy. 
• Tuialgi out for the season. Ouch. 
• Edmund and Konta off to 2017 fliers. 
• South Africa destroying Sri Lanka. Painful.