Arsenal’s Petr Cech accepts blame for equaliser in loss at Bournemouth

Goalkeeper Petr Cech has accepted blame for Bournemouth’s equaliser in Arsenal’s 2-1 loss on Sunday, saying he “should have done better.”

Cech was beaten after he made an ill-timed run off his line as he attempted to intercept a cross toward Callum Wilson in the 70th minute. Wilson beat the Czech veteran to the ball and easily slotted home a leveller for the Cherries, who then netted a winner through Jordon Ibe four minutes later.


“Obviously, the first one I’m disappointed with because I thought I was going to cut the cross on time,” Cech told the Arsenal website. “Wilson arrived faster in front of me. It’s a matter of split seconds, but I think I should have done better on that.”

Defender Rob Holding was largely to blame for the second goal as he misplayed the offside trap in the lead-up. Fellow centre-back Shkodran Mustafi tried to clear the ball, but it fell straight to Ibe, who slotted it past both Holding and Cech.

“The second one had an element of luck,” Cech said. “It was a good long ball behind but it was everybody’s ball and it fell right in front of the player and he managed to shoot it very hard and squeeze it through my body. In that one, we were a bit unlucky. They rode their luck, they worked very hard all day and in the end, they got a big reward.”

The loss left Arsenal eight points outside the top four and still without a win in 2018.