Arsenal’s Heroic Comeback From 3-0 Down Against Bournemouth in 2017
The 2016/17 season saw Arsenal go on to win the FA Cup versus Chelsea 2-1 in May, for the 13th time in history, at the time a record for the most victories in the competition. However, there was one league game which stood out, showing the attacking prowess of the true Arsenal we know.
On 3 January 2017, Arsenal heroically fought back from three goals down to draw 3-3 versus AFC Bournemouth, who had only been in the Premiership for two seasons at the time, which feels incredible looking back on.
The Gunners had never dropped points against the Cherries in English top-flight history beforehand, beating them 3-1 in North London in their previous encounter during the 2016/17 campaign.
Bournemouth stun Arsenal with three goals
In the 16th minute at the Vitality Stadium, Eddie Howe’s team took a shock lead after Charlie Daniels fired past Petr Cech, who had come frantically off his line (0-1).
Within four minutes, Callum Wilson doubled their advantage devastatingly from the penalty spot (0-2).
To make matters worse, Ryan Fraser stroked in the third and most brutal goal of the game just before the hour mark, forcing Arsenal to react as if they’d never gone a goal down originally (0-3).
Sanchez, Perez and Giroud inspire a heroic comeback
In the 70th minute, Alexis Sanchez, who would go on to become the Gunners’ top goalscorer for the season with 30 strikes, commenced the comeback with a diving close-range header (1-3).
In the final third of the game, Lucas Perez, who had struggled to make an impact in an Arsenal shirt, made his impression at the right time, volleying an almighty effort from the left-hand side of the box (2-3).
It was now all or nothing!
With the dust looking to settle on the cards of defeat, our key striker throughout the 2010s, Olivier Giroud, ensured Arsenal escaped with some dignity to prevent one of the greatest Premier League upsets of all time, with a blitzing and classic header of his from the centre of the box (3-3).
What more could Arsenal have asked for but victory?
The Dorset side were far from the powerhouse they are now in England, featuring in Europe for the first time ever this season in the Europa League.
Following a rather intense 90 minutes of football, Arsene Wenger told BBC Sport that his side had passed a mental test of endurance:
“At the start we suffered from the quality of Bournemouth. One team had over three days to recover and on top of that we suffered at the back.
“It was a physical test but we came back into the game and we showed we are mentally strong.”
Arsenal would go on to finish fifth that year, ending their long run of consecutive seasons in the Champions League. However, the Gunners still showed they were a team which demanded respect and admiration on certain occasions.
