How Arsenal’s disciplinary penalty could cost them the Premier League

Arsenal suffered a shock 2-0 away defeat at AFC Bournemouth, ending the Cherries’ Premier League title ambitions. After a great start, it was Arsenal’s first defeat of the season.

The Gunners appeared to be in control early on before a poor pass from Leandro Trossard put William Saliba under immense pressure and the Frenchman brought down Bournemouth center forward Evanilson.

After initially escaping with a yellow, VAR asked the referee to reconsider and Saliba received a red card for a last-man foul that prevented a goal-scoring chance.

Although Arsenal initially handled themselves well, they began to crumble in the second half as the Cherries increased the pressure and tried to exploit their man advantage, and they did.

A goal from Ryan Christie and a brilliantly converted penalty from Justin Kluivert gave Bournemouth their first league win over Arsenal since January 2018.

As for Arsenal, they will have to rue Saliba’s red card that cost them this game. It has been a recurring theme in the games in which they have dropped points this season.

Arsenal have dropped points in three of their eight Premier League games this season. In all three games a man was sent off.

Before today, they were playing Manchester City at the end of last month and Trossard had been given his marching orders to kick the ball away when a free-kick was about to be taken.

It was a particularly pointless decision considering Declan Rice had received a controversial red card for a similar situation against Brighton & Hove Albion just weeks earlier, as officials clamp down on time wasting.

These cards will cost Arsenal points as they look to challenge Manchester City for the Premier League title and end their 20-year wait to conquer the English top flight.

Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta needs to speak to his team about their disciplinary problems.

Since Arteta’s first game as Arsenal manager on Boxing Day 2019, the Gunners have been shown 18 red cards in the Premier League, at least five more than any other team.

While Arsenal are showcasing their footballing prowess, their inability to maintain discipline is a glaring flaw. Their fight for the title could be significantly affected if they continue to make such costly mistakes.

Can Arteta and his team fix their disciplinary problems before it’s too late? We can only wait and see how they react.