‘Didn’t help’ – Viktor Gyokeres gives bizarre excuse for Arsenal’s loss to Bournemouth

Viktor Gyokeres suggested a dry Emirates pitch was partly to blame for Arsenal’s disappointing 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth on Sunday.

Gyokeres pulled the Gunners level in the first half from the spot after Junior Kroupi had given the Cherries the lead after 17 minutes.

But Mikel Arteta’s side were outplayed after the break and were ultimately punished when Alex Scott rounded off a superb Bournemouth move with a composed finish past David Raya.

It was another poor display going forward from the Gunners, who managed just three shots on target throughout the entire encounter.

And Swedish striker Gyokeres, who fired wide with a great opportunity late on, suggested that a lack of moisture in the surface hampered his side’s efforts.

‘We had some chances in the end,’ he told BBC Sport post-match. ‘The pitch was a bit dry there to be honest so that didn’t help.’

‘But like I said we all need to do better and take our chances.’

On the nature of the defeat, Arsenal’s third in their last four matches, Gyokeres added: ‘Of course it hurts. Luckily we have a good game again on Wednesday to play and another one at the weekend. We have a lot to look forward to.

‘We go into every game with the mindset we want to win the game and play at our best.

‘We always have that belief. We always want to win the games. We wanted to win this game. We played against good opposition and they won today.

‘They’re good on the counter-attacks. They have good players and did some good combinations. But we need to do better.’

Meanwhile, Arteta said his side got nowhere near their usual levels, but pushed back on the notion that a jam-packed season was beginning to catch up with his side.

‘That is too simplistic to analyse the game, we had some good moments, we were very inefficient when we broke the press,’ he told BBC Match of the Day.

‘We had to capitalise on those moments. We had poor defending situations and then it is game on. Today there were some actions that are very far from the level that we have shown and that shocks the system.

‘We ask a lot from our crowd and today we didn’t respond to those standards and we have to apologise, take it on the chin and move on.’

Arsenal are back in action in midweek for their Champions League quarter-final second leg clash with Sporting CP before a huge trip to face Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium next weekend.

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