Bournemouth vs Arsenal result: Five things we learned as Mikel Arteta picks up a point in first game in charge

Bournemouth 1-1 Arsenal: New Gunners manager was in the dugout for the first time as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang bailed the visitors out to salvage a draw

Mikel Arteta picked up a point in his first match as Arsenal manager (Getty)

Arsenal had to fight back from behind to salvage a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth to claim a point in Mikel Arteta’s first match in charge.

The former Manchester City assistant was back in the Arsenal dugout, this time as manager after agreeing to replace Unai Emery who was sacked a month ago, but in dreadful conditions on the south coast the Spaniard watched on as his side laboured their way to a point.

It could have been much worse, with Arsenal falling behind midway through the first half after midfielder Dan Gosling timed his run into the box superbly to run onto Jack Stacey’s inch-perfect cut-back, which saw him beat Granit Xhaka to the ball and leave Bernd Leno no chance of keeping it out.

Arsenal recovered well after the break and eventually the growing pressure told, with Reiss nelson flashing a low cross to the other side of the area where Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was on hand to drive the ball in and level the scores.

Bournemouth though they had themselves a winner when Leno spilled Harry Williams’s effort into the path of Callum Wilson, but the striker was flagged offside and Arsenal were able to breathe a sigh of relief.

Here’s five things we learned from the 1-1 draw.

Both teams have long season’s ahead

The draw does little for either side, with Arsenal remaining in the bottom half of the Premier League table and Bournemouth looking nervously over their shoulder just two point ahead of the drop zone.

Arsenal are in the very early days of the Mikel Arteta era given this was his first match in charge of the team outright, but it did represent the third match in a row that Arteta was able to watch first hand following the loss to Man City and draw with Everton and you have to think that he can only be deeply concerned by what he’s seen so far.

For Eddie Howe, it is a bit more of a familiar feeling, but with just one win in their last eight matches, the mind does start to wonder whether his future will come under threat. Bournemouth are possibly the most loyal club in the league, but with the riches on offer in the top flight compared to the Championship, even they will start to question the future plans.

Arsenal have Leno to thank

Arsenal went into half-time one goal down, but they were lucky it was not worse after a wasteful opening 45 minutes. While Arsenal once again failed to have a shot on target, Bournemouth were making no such mistakes, with Bern Leno the facing a stiff test at the Vitality Stadium.

The German could do nothing about Dan Gosling’s opener, but he was at his most aware to close down Ryan Fraser early on and was also on hand to shut down Callum Wilson when the forward beat Reiss Nelson and Ainsley Maitland-Niles far too easily. Leno also kept out a low effort from Harry Wilson late on that would have counted if though Bournemouth were subsequently flagged offside from Wilson’s rebounded effort.

Arsenal had Bernd Leno to thank (Reuters) (REUTERS)

Wasteful Aubameyang and Lacazette leave Ozil exposed

Understandable Mesut Ozil tends to draw plenty of ire from Arsenal fans whenever he puts in a lacklustre display – which tends to be quite often – but on Saturday the midfielder the attacking midfielder was proving the creator-in-chief for those in front of him.

The problem was that they were not taking their chances, with a number of attempted crosses from Aubameyang repeatedly finding the feet of Bournemouth defenders or thin air, while Lacazette was guilty of missing a glorious effort in the second half that would have put Arsenal ahead. Given much of the criticism at Arsenal falls on the defence and midfield, this was not a good day for their attack force.

Bournemouth made to pay for not taking chances

The home side had the better of the first half that meant they went in with a deserving lead, but the inevitable feeling that it wasn’t enough given their dominance quickly came back to bite them.

Arsenal started the second half very much the stronger side, and it immediately felt like a different game when the visitors were given the time and space to get themselves on the ball and hold on to possession. If Bournemouth are to start picking up more than the odd win here or there, they need the likes of Wilson and Joshua King to take a more prominent role in matches.

Arteta will be concerned by what he has seen from Arsenal so far (Getty) (Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Arteta will not be a quick fix

This was not something that was unknown before kick-off, but the 1-1 draw was a useful reminder of where Arsenal are right not. They have serious problems among their squad, with an established core who aren’t justifying the sizeable chunk of wage bill that they take up and a young generation who are so far failing to live up to their billing.

There are issues off the pitch, not least an absent owner and a second managerial change in fewer than two seasons, and of course the complete lack of confidence due to a torrid season so far. Arteta has plenty of work to do and we’ll learn in the coming months how he plans on going about it, but it’s worth remembering that those answers need time to come, not just a handful of games.