Declan Rice blames ‘silly mistakes’ for Arsenal’s shock loss at Bournemouth after William Saliba’s costly red card – with midfielder admitting side ‘kicked themselves in the foot’ again with third dismissal of the season

Declan Rice admitted ‘silly mistakes’ damaged ‘naive’ Arsenal, while William Saliba’s red card paved the way for Bournemouth to secure a 2-0 win.

Substitutes Ryan Christie and Justin Kluivert both scored in the second half to hand the Gunners their first away defeat in the Premier League in 2024.

The sending off of Saliba in the 30th minute, after Evanilson was brought down following a poor back pass from Leandro Trossard, was the crucial moment of the match and follows a recent pattern of indiscipline.

Rice was sent off against Brighton for delaying the restart, and Trossard was sent off against Manchester City for also kicking the ball away.

Speaking after Saturday’s worrying defeat, Rice said: ‘We kicked ourselves in the foot three times in eight games and we got away with it, at home against Brighton and away against Manchester City. Bournemouth kept searching and made it 2-0.

The Gunners slumped to their first defeat of the season after a 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth

William Saliba was sent off in the first half for a reckless challenge on Evanilson

‘I am proud of the players who fight, even with ten men, but because of the naivety we have to stop making mistakes, because you want eleven players for ninety minutes and that is how you win football matches.

‘With ten men we showed a lot of character and personality to stay in the game. The big chance belonged to (Gabriel) Martinelli and the goalkeeper, who read it and made a great save, and a minute later a routine that we are normally so strong at killed us.

‘We cannot make stupid mistakes. You need all your best players on the field at all times.”

Mikel Arteta said: ‘We are very disappointed with the result and disappointed because we had to play in that context again.

“Even harder than the previous two we’ve faced this season to do it with 10 men at this level for 65 or 68 minutes, it’s just an impossible task.

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta has lamented his side’s ‘silly mistakes’ at the Vitality Stadium

‘It’s an accident waiting to happen if you don’t get the points. I cannot fault the team for their effort, their commitment, to play the way we had to play. There was a big moment at 0-0 when we had a one-on-one with the goalkeeper and we couldn’t score. Then we do that on the other side.’

When asked if he wanted more from his players, he added: ‘More with 10 men? Well, I don’t know what else we can do when you have to play away from home in this league. It’s hard enough to do it with 11, so what we’ve done with 10 is pretty remarkable.”