Arsenal come back to beat Bournemouth as Reiss Nelson hits incredible late winner

Arsenal players celebrate Reiss Nelson's late winner against Bournemouth at the Emirates Stadium in March 2023.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Reiss Nelson scored an incredible late winner as Arsenal produced a thrilling comeback at the Emirates Stadium to beat Bournemouth 3-2 on Saturday.

Bournemouth took the lead straight from the kick-off as Philip Billing netted after 9.11 seconds to score the second-fastest goal in Premier League history and the Cherries went 2-0 up through Marcos Senesi after 57 minutes.

Thomas Partey then pulled one back for the Gunners five minutes later and Ben White made it 2-2 after 70 minutes.

But it looked like Arsenal would have to settle for a draw until Nelson hit a superb winner from just inside the box following a corner deep into added time, when he picked up a rebound, took a touch with his right foot, let the ball bounce and hit a fierce drive into the far corner after 97 minutes.

The substitute's goal sparked wild celebrations as the Gunners repeated their recent last-gasp heroics at Aston Villa (when they scored their third and fourth goals in added time) to take all three points and stay five ahead of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.

Earlier in the day, Manchester City beat Newcastle 2-0 to move to within two points of Arsenal ahead of the leaders' game against Bournemouth, but the Gunners are now five clear again.

Both Arsenal and City have played 26 games. The two teams meet at the Etihad on April 26.

Ben Hayward
Weekend editor

Ben Hayward is a European football writer and Tottenham Hotspur fan with over 15 years’ experience, he has covered games all over the world - including three World Cups, several Champions League finals, Euros, Copa America - and has spent much of that time in Spain. Ben speaks English and Spanish, currently dividing his time between Barcelona and London, covering all the big talking points of the weekend on FFT: he’s also written several list features and interviewed Guglielmo Vicario for the magazine.

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