Arsenal squander lead again in worst possible preparation for crunch Paris Saint-Germain clash | OneFootball

Arsenal have never lost more points from winning positions than in this campaign

Arsenal, at least, did not pick up any fresh injuries ahead of the second leg of their Champions League semi-final, however that was about the only positive.

Huijsen rose highest to equalise for Bournemouth

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Manchester City are only three points off them in third but, if Newcastle win at Brighton on Sunday, they will leapfrog them and be just two behind Arsenal. With a trip to Anfield to come next week, suddenly the seven-point gap to Nottingham Forest does not feel very big.

Arsenal’s season has been all about the Champions League for a fair few weeks now and this was not the preparation Arteta would have wanted heading to Paris. The Spaniard now needs to pick his players up after this loss and, to make matters worse, it will basically be the same team starting in Paris - bar perhaps Jurrien Timber and Mikel Merino coming in for Ben White and Leandro Trossard.

PSG also lost 2-1 on Saturday, suffering a defeat to Strasbourg, but Luis Enrique made 10 changes and rested his big hitters.

This was a familiar performance from Arsenal when it comes to their recent Premier League matches. Since the league game before they faced Real Madrid last month, when they travelled to Everton, the Gunners have won just once in five league matches. Their only victory came at Ipswich and they have also kept a solitary clean sheet during that miserable run.

Arteta was not able to give his starters much rest

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Arsenal had been leading in all four of those games that they dropped points. That has caused this slide.

It is the story of their season as Arteta’s side have dropped 21 points from winning positions in the Premier League, their joint most ever in a single campaign.

Arsenal, as they have in other recent games, looked on course for the win here, before they faded.

Declan Rice - perhaps the one bright spark on a disappointing afternoon - opened the scoring in the first half. Restored to an advanced role, the midfielder was Arsenal’s best player and he took his goal really well. Galloping forward, he latched onto Martin Odegaard’s through-ball to score his eighth goal of the season.

Rice now has eight goals and 10 assists this season, making it his best ever season from an attacking point of view.

Bournemouth had carried a threat all game, however, and even in the first half, William Saliba was forced to make a great last-ditch tackle to deny Dango Ouattara. The Cherries pressed Arsenal high up the pitch in a manner that PSG would be proud of, and their hard work was rewarded after the break.

A long throw from Antoine Semenyo was flicked in by Dean Huijsen to level the game midway through the second half. Eight minutes later, the Cherries were ahead, and once again, it was from a set-piece. Marcus Tavernier flicked on Alex Scott’s corner and Evanilson bundled it in at the back post.

VAR checked for a handball but, after it had intervened to send him off last week, the Brazilian found it on his side this week as the goal stood. Arsenal pushed for an equaliser after that, but there was little from them - especially with Rice off the pitch.