Bournemouth, England, August 21 (BUS): Martin Odegaard scored two goals in the first 11 minutes to lead Arsenal to a 3-0 win over newly promoted Bournemouth to top the Premier League.
The former Real Madrid player, the Arsenal captain, opened the scoring after five minutes of good work by Gabriel Jesus and doubled his lead from Ben White’s dip, Reuters reported.
Bournemouth failed to shoot or touch in the Arsenal penalty area in the first half on one side and were marginally better in the second half.
France defender William Saliba fired an unstoppable effort into the top corner to make it 3-0 in the 54th minute and put Arsenal in the speed control zone in the sunshine of the south coast.
Jesus, who once again shone for Arsenal, had a goal ruled out for offside as the visitors netted three straight wins – unlike last season when they lost their first three.
This is the first time he has won his first three Premier League games in 18 years.
Arsenal are in first place with nine points, two points behind their north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, although champions Manchester City may oust them by beating Newcastle United on Sunday.
Bournemouth suffered consecutive defeats after beating Aston Villa on the first day of the season.
While Arsenal will face tougher tests than sub-par Bournemouth, the ruthless way they tore down Scott Parker’s side has shown how far they have come from last season.
Signs of Jesus and Alexander Zinchenko from Manchester City seem to have spurred Arsenal while young Frenchman Saliba, who has returned from loan spells, appears to be the part.
“Winning makes life completely different,” Arteta said. “The atmosphere is good. The unity is incredible.”
Arsenal were in a clear mood from the first minute and they only needed five minutes to move on.
Jesus ran quickly into the heart of Bournemouth and when compatriot Gabriel Martinelli’s shot was saved, the ball went out to Odegaard who drove it home.
Odegaard made it 2-0 when he elegantly buried Ben White’s dip – the lofty goal after a VAR check for offside.
Arsenal were ahead of Bournemouth and back to 3-0 nine minutes into the second half when Saliba broke through the top corner with an elegant Granit Xhaka finish.
Jesus thought he made it 4-0 but the VAR ruled it out for offside and Arsenal had several more chances of late to confirm the line difference.
“The first half was really unacceptable in many ways from us,” Parker said. “We needed to be humble in terms of understanding the dynamics of the game and what we’re facing.”
“There is no shame in losing against Arsenal but what is unacceptable is how we did it in the first half.”