Gunners Boss Demands Response After Bournemouth Collapse as Critical European Night Looms
Mikel Arteta has promised Arsenal will harness the “anger and rage” from their shocking 2-1 collapse against Bournemouth to fuel their season-defining Champions League showdown with Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday.
The Gunners threw away a lead at the Emirates on Saturday, with Dean Huijsen and Evanilson overturning Declan Rice’s milestone goal—his 100th appearance strike—to hand Arteta’s men a costly defeat. Now, with PSG waiting in the second leg of their last-16 tie, the Spaniard insists his squad must use that frustration as motivation.
“It didn’t create the right momentum—it created anger, frustration, rage,” a visibly irritated Arteta admitted post-match. “Now we have to use all of that for Wednesday. That’s what big teams do.”
Arsenal’s defensive frailties resurfaced at the worst possible time. After Rice’s first-half opener, Bournemouth punished sloppy set-piece defending before Evanilson’s winner exposed the Gunners’ inability to kill games off. “We had so many chances but didn’t take them,” Arteta fumed. “Then we defend the box like that? At this level, you can’t give goals away so easily.”
The defeat leaves Arsenal clinging to second in the Premier League, with Manchester City and Newcastle lurking. But the immediate concern is overturning a 1-0 deficit against PSG after Ousmane Dembélé’s first-leg winner. Arteta took solace in his team’s strong away form in Europe this season but delivered a grim update on Jurrien Timber’s availability, admitting the Dutch defender is unlikely to feature in Paris.
With a brutal run of fixtures—PSG, Liverpool, and Newcastle—looming, Arteta knows his team must rediscover their ruthlessness fast. “We’ve dropped points here before—against Palace, Fulham, nearly Brentford,” he said. “Something has to change.”
For Arsenal, the response starts now—or their season risks unraveling in a matter of days
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