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Arsenal survived a massive scare in their pursuit of the Premier League title as they came back from two goals down to beat Bournemouth 3-2 with a last-gasp winner from Reiss Nelson, in a thrilling contest in north London on Saturday.
With referee Chris Kavanagh set to blow the final whistle in the seventh minute of stoppage time a corner was cleared out to Nelson who smashed home a left-footed shot to spark bedlam inside the Emirates.
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Manchester City‘s earlier 2-0 defeat of Newcastle United had ratcheted up the pressure on Arsenal, cutting their lead to two points, and when relegation-threatened Bournemouth’s Philip Billing scored after nine seconds the hosts were stunned.
Timed at 9.11 seconds, Billing’s close-range finish from an attack straight from the kickoff was the second-quickest goal ever scored in the Premier League era.
Shane Long’s effort 7.69 seconds after kickoff for Southampton against Watford in 2019 is the quickest.
Arsenal dominated possession and were denied by a combination of visiting goalkeeper Neto and some last-ditch defending although Bournemouth had their moments too.
When Marcos Senesi rose unmarked to head in Bournemouth’s second goal just before the hour it looked as though Arsenal’s grip on top spot was coming loose.
Then began an Arsenal comeback that could prove a pivotal moment in their hopes of winning the Premier League title for the first time since 2004.
Thomas Partey prodded a shot past Neto shortly after the hour mark, and eight minutes later substitute Ben White‘s volley crossed the line despite Neto’s desperate dive.
Arsenal laid siege to the Bournemouth goal but it appeared the visitors had held on for a precious point in their own desperate fight against relegation.
But substitute Nelson supplied the sucker-punch to re-establish Arsenal’s five-point lead over City.
Mikel Arteta’s side have 63 points from 26 games with City on 58. Bournemouth are in 19th place with 21 points.