Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres blamed his team’s ‘dry pitch’ for missing a huge chance late in their 2-1 defeat against Bournemouth.
Gyokeres fired over the bar from close range late on after the ball fell to him with goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic in no man’s land, before missing two more gilt-edged chances in stoppage time on Saturday.
Mikel Arteta’s side fell to a third defeat in four games and their Premier League title chances are now in jeopardy.
They hold a nine-point cushion over Manchester City, but their northern rivals have two games in hand and host them at the Etihad next week.
Gyokeres scored a penalty for the Gunners but explained away his late miss by telling the BBC: ‘We had some okay chances in the end. The pitch was maybe a bit dry there to be honest, so that didn’t help.
‘We all need to do better and take our chances.
Viktor Gyokeres blamed Arsenal’s dry pitch for his late open-goal miss against Bournemouth
‘We don’t need to get too stuck on what happened today. We need to look forward, be positive, and look forward to the games.’
As well as blasting his sitter over the bar, he nodded a 92nd-minute header wide of the post before squandering another chance a minute later.
Gyokeres has come into his own since the turn of the year and now has 18 goals in all competitions.
He faced criticism for a slow start after joining in a £64million deal from Sporting Lisbon last summer, but he has hit 11 goals in 2026 to discourage his critics.
On a day where Arsenal only had three shots on target, his penalty was the only reason that they were in the hunt for a result against Bournemouth.
Eli Junior Kroupi opened the scoring in the first half for Andoni Iraola’s side, who are now unbeaten in 12 Premier League matches, a club record.
Gyokeres then restored parity from the penalty spot before half-time, but Alex Scott netted a 74th-minute winner to dampen spirits at the Emirates.
Some supporters left before full time while others stayed to boo off their team.
Feelings at the Emirates turned sour as Arsenal fell to a third defeat in their last four matches
The loss could prove devastating in their hunt for a first Premier League title since 2004.
While their league form remains fairly strong – they won four in a row prior to this – performances have become laboured and their results in all competitions have been unconvincing.
Their 2-0 defeat by Manchester City in last month’s Carabao Cup final has been interpreted as a measure of how each team’s nerves are holding up for the run-in.
Being knocked out of the FA Cup quarter-finals by Southampton last week only compounded the worries, though the Championship club have been in scintillating form and had already dumped Fulham out of the competition.
