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Mikel Arteta hailed Reiss Nelson‘s 97th-minute winner against Bournemouth as the “loudest and most emotional moment” at Emirates Stadium in his time as manager which should give Arsenal more belief they can win the Premier League title.
Arsenal were 2-0 down after Philip Billing scored the second-fastest goal in the division’s history after 9.11 seconds before Marcos Senesi‘s 57th-minute header doubled Bournemouth’s advantage.
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However, Thomas Partey halved the deficit on 62 minutes before Ben White equalised eight minutes later.
In a frantic finale — which saw Arsenal amass 31 shots, a season-high in the Premier League — Nelson fired in a superb drive from the edge of the box to secure a dramatic win and spark euphoric celebrations.
Arsenal’s staff flooded the pitch while fans stayed long after the final whistle to cheer their team as they re-established a five-point lead over Manchester City at the top of the table.
“It’s probably the loudest and the most emotional moment that we have lived together,” Arteta, who was appointed Arsenal’s head coach in December 2019, said.
“The journey that we’ve been on together and how the supporters and the players are gliding together. Adding into that moment, it’s really special.”
Since losing to City on Feb. 15, Arsenal have beaten Aston Villa, Leicester City, Everton and Bournemouth. They lost Leandro Trossard to a first-half injury on Saturday but Nelson scored his first league goal since October to maintain their victorious run.
“Winning four games in the Premier League is very difficult and we have done three in a week, which is even harder,” Arteta said.
“We have done it in various ways and that should generate more belief. Today a lot of things went against the team.
“Our fault in the first [goal], then the fact we weren’t scoring, the situation with Leo [Trossard], the first set-play they had, they scored. The team still found a way to win the game and that is really positive.”