![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Evanilson gave impressive Bournemouth the lead in the 10th minute on England\u2019s south coast, stroking home after an uncharacteristically sloppy pass from Gabriel.<\/p>\n
But the Brazil defender made up for his error just five minutes later, converting after Noni Madueke\u2019s drive to the byline following a set-piece routine.<\/p>\n
England midfielder Rice, who missed Arsenal\u2019s thumping 4-1 win against Villa in midweek with a knee problem, sidefooted the Gunners ahead in the 54th minute.<\/p>\n
And he gave them breathing space with about 20 minutes to go, producing a low finish from substitute Bukayo Saka\u2019s cutback.<\/p>\n
Junior Kroupi brought Bournemouth back into the game with a stunning right-footed finish that flew into the top corner.<\/p>\n
But Mikel Arteta\u2019s Arsenal held for a fifth straight Premier League win — keeping them firmly on course for a first English title since 2004.<\/p>\n
There were tense scenes at the end of the match when Bournemouth were denied the opportunity to cross the ball back into the box after their long throw was initially cleared.<\/p>\n
Bournemouth were furious with the referee, who blew for full time and was swarmed by players at the end of the match. Meanwhile, there appeared to be tensions on the bench as well with Arsenal staff attempting to calm down a heated Gabriel Heinze at full time. <\/p>\n
BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND – JANUARY 03: Declan Rice of Arsenal applauds the fans after the Premier League match between Bournemouth and Arsenal at Vitality Stadium on January 03, 2026 in Bournemouth, England. (Photo by Michael Steele\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
– Villa\u2019s home comforts –<\/p>\n
Earlier, Unai Emery\u2019s Villa bounced back from their chastening defeat at Arsenal to beat Nottingham Forest 3-1, recording their 11th consecutive home win in all competitions.<\/p>\n
England forward Ollie Watkins gave Villa a deserved lead on the cusp of half-time with a powerful strike from just outside the area and John McGinn scored twice in the second half, either side of a Morgan Gibbs-White goal.<\/p>\n
Villa boss Emery told Sky Sports that his players and coaching staff had held a meeting after their drubbing at the Emirates Stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am so happy,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had to recover our energy and our confidence. Here, at Villa Park, the energy we create was really important.<\/p>\n
\u201cForest are competitive. After the Arsenal match we met — the players and staff — (and discussed) how we are doing this season, how we are feeling, how we needed to keep the same consistency as before, how we needed to be together and strong.\u201d <\/p>\n
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – JANUARY 03: Ollie Watkins of Aston Villa scores his team’s second goal during the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest at Villa Park on January 03, 2026 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Mark Thompson\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Sean Dyche\u2019s Forest, who have now suffered four straight league defeats, remain one place above the relegation zone, four points clear of West Ham, who slumped to a damaging 3-0 loss at Molineux.<\/p>\n
Relegation-threatened West Ham travelled to face winless basement club Wolves in desperate need of a victory.<\/p>\n
Jhon Arias gave the home side an early lead and Hwang Hee-chan doubled their advantage from the penalty spot shortly after the half-hour mark.<\/p>\n
Teenager Mateus Mane drilled in his first Premier League goal shortly before half-time, all but guaranteeing Rob Edwards\u2019s team a first league win of the season.<\/p>\n
It has been a disastrous result for Nuno Espirito Santo\u2019s men, who are in danger of being cut adrift at the bottom of the Premier League along with Wolves and Burnley.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody needs to think and reflect and question ourselves,\u201d Nuno told Sky Sports. \u201cIt\u2019s about actions. It\u2019s been very bad, very bad.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t recall one day that I felt so bad on a football pitch like today. I have to apologise to the fans. For those that travelled, it was embarrassing. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s not much I can say other than we are sorry. We are sorry because what we showed was not good enough. Today was the worst performance we had.\u201d<\/p>\n
WOLVERHAMPTON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 03: Nuno Espirito Santo, Manager of West Ham United, looks on from the dugout during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Ham United at Molineux on January 03, 2026 in Wolverhampton, England. (Photo by Carl Recine\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Wolves, who drew with Manchester United in midweek, remain 12 points from safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been improving and progressing and you saw that today,\u201d Edwards told the BBC. \u201cIt is another step in the right direction, that is all it was and it is nice it has culminated in a win.\u201d <\/p>\n
Elsewhere on Saturday, Brighton beat Burnley 2-0 to end a six-match winless run, courtesy of goals from Georginio Rutter and Yasin Ayari.<\/p>\n
City host managerless Chelsea on Saturday while Liverpool and Manchester United are also in action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Arsenal fought back from a goal down to beat Bournemouth 3-2 on Saturday and stretch their lead at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":389686,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[2620,6236,64,63,689,208673,2090,208680,112124,146123,208672,17062,208681,19061,208671,1208,208685,39453,2057,596,208679,208687,2105,208674,208676,24270,208678,208683,208686,152090,1613,11999,6255,2082,51011,8316,673,3583,2638,677,26505,208682,1614,104864,46398,141448,208677,2643,85,208684,208688,45073,3586,208675],"class_list":["post-389685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-agence-france-presse","tag-aston-villa-football-club","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-axe-threat","tag-british-broadcasting-corporation","tag-call-sparks","tag-carl-recine","tag-chastening-defeat","tag-city-host-managerless","tag-city-of-birmingham","tag-city-of-wolverhampton","tag-coaching-staff","tag-consecutive-home-win","tag-england","tag-england-midfielder","tag-enzo-maresca","tag-europe","tag-football","tag-gabriel-heinze","tag-gabriel-magalhaes","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-half-hour-mark","tag-home-comforts","tag-home-side","tag-jhon-arias","tag-john-mcginn","tag-knee-problem","tag-league-win","tag-liverpool","tag-manchester-city-football-club","tag-manchester-united-football-club","tag-mark-thompson","tag-michael-steele","tag-mikel-arteta","tag-new-south-wales","tag-northern-europe","tag-nuno-espirito-santo","tag-oceania","tag-ollie-watkins","tag-post-match-drama","tag-premier-league","tag-relegation-zone","tag-rob-edwards","tag-sean-dyche","tag-set-piece-routine","tag-sky-sports","tag-sports","tag-straight-league-defeats","tag-time-fury","tag-unai-emery","tag-united-kingdom","tag-winless-basement-club"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/389686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}