{"id":456229,"date":"2026-05-19T07:31:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T07:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/456229\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T07:31:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T07:31:07","slug":"arteta-preparing-to-become-biggest-ever-bournemouth-fan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/456229\/","title":{"rendered":"Arteta preparing to become biggest ever Bournemouth fan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mikel Arteta said is ready to become “the biggest ever” Bournemouth fan with his Arsenal team on the brink of Premier League glory.<\/p>\n

The Gunners are just one game away from winning their first title in 22 years after Kai Havertz’s first-half header secured a 1-0 victory against Burnley<\/a> at the Emirates Stadium last night.<\/p>\n

However, Arsenal will be crowned champions tonight \u2013 and avoid the anxiety of a final-day shootout \u2013 if Bournemouth stop Manchester City from winning at the Vitality Stadium.<\/p>\n

The Cherries have not lost a home game in the eight fixtures since their 3-2 defeat to Arsenal on 3 January.<\/p>\n

And when asked if he is now a Bournemouth fan for the next 24 hours, Arteta said: “The biggest ever.<\/p>\n

“(Bournemouth manager) Andoni (Iraola), and all the players and all the supporters of Bournemouth, I think we are all fans because we know what it means if they get a result.<\/p>\n

“I don\u2019t think (a text to Iraola) is needed. What he\u2019s done in that football club, the transformation, what they are playing for, I don\u2019t think they need anything else. When you look at how Burnley played today, the spirit that they show, how difficult they made it, imagine tomorrow.”<\/p>\n

\"Arsenal's
\nKai Havertz scored the winning goal in London<\/p>\n

Pressed as to whether he would watch the match with his players, Arteta replied: “I haven\u2019t planned to do that.<\/p>\n

“I am planning to watch it with my family. I don\u2019t know for how long. I will be there in front of the TV, but I don\u2019t know how much I am going to be able to watch it, and that is the reality.”<\/p>\n

Havertz\u2019s header from Bukayo Saka\u2019s corner in the 36th minute proved enough for Arsenal, who face Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Sunday, to beat an already-relegated Burnley side.<\/p>\n

Arteta\u2019s players could complete a historic double this month with a Champions League final against Paris St Germain to follow in Budapest on 30 May.<\/p>\n

Prior to leading his side on a lap of honour to mark the club\u2019s final home game, captain Martin Odegaard said: “I am really proud. It has been an amazing season so far.<\/p>\n

“We have one big one left and then the Champions League final and we want to take the trophies home.<\/p>\n

“I can promise you all that we will give everything we have and keep going until the very end. With your support we are going to be ready.”<\/p>\n

Burnley rarely looked like spoiling Arsenal\u2019s party, but the hosts could count themselves fortunate to end the game with 11 men following Havertz\u2019s high tackle on Lesley Ugochukwu.<\/p>\n

Burnley interim boss Mike Jackson said: “It is a red card. It is dangerous, he is leaving the floor, and it is cynical foul to break up play.<\/p>\n

“We are disappointed it wasn\u2019t given because it changes the game for the last 20 minutes in our favour.<\/p>\n

“When you look back at it and watch it frame-by-frame, and second-by-second, you must be able to see that.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mikel Arteta said is ready to become “the biggest ever” Bournemouth fan with his Arsenal team on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":456230,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-456229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/456230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}