With a victory over Bournemouth, ARSENAL will be eager to forget about their tie in the North London derby. They couldn’t have asked for a better start.
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Bukayo Saka nodded the Gunners ahead after Gabriel Jesus’ initial header hit the post.
Martin Odegaard doubled Arsenal’s lead before Kai Havertz got on the scoresheet through a coolly dispatched penalty.
And Ben White’s stoppage-time head put the icing on the cake for the Gunners.
KAI HAVERTZ finally got on the scoresheet for Arsenal today – but fans have joked that he “forgot” how to celebrate it.
The midfielder, who completed a £65million switch from Chelsea in June, scored Arsenal’s third goal against Bournemouth from the penalty spot
Kai Havertz scored his first Arsenal goal against Bournemouth
The midfielder was instantly surrounded by his team-mates after converting a penalty
After being handed the ball by captain Martin Odegaard, he stepped up and sent Neto the wrong way before slotting it into the bottom-left corner.
However, before he got the chance to celebrate he was instantly surrounded by his teammates.
Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka, Eddie Nketiah, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Magalhaes and Odegaard all jumped in to congratulate the midfielder.
And Arsenal fans flocked to social media to react, with one person writing: “What a big moment for Havertz that is. Every single Arsenal player ran over to celebrate with him in front of the visiting fans. They are absolutely delighted.”
Another added: “That was very wholesome moment Saka & Odegaard giving the penalty to Havertz. Seeing the whole squad celebrate that goal to make it 3-0 was beautiful really was.”
A third wrote: “FAIR PLAY HAVERTZ, great penalty and composure. I love the Arsenal players making him celebrate it properly. Nice move to get his confidence back.”
However, some fans joked that he had “forgotten” how to celebrate.
One person commented: “Havertz has forgotten on how to celebrate, good on captain O and Saka allowing him to take it #Arsenal.”
While another said: “Been so long since Havertz scored a goal. Bro forgot how to celebrate!”
Arsenal led the match 3-0 following Havertz’s second-half strike.
Saka opened the scoring in the 17th minute before Odegaard extended the advantage just before half time.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta expressed his support for Havertz during his pre-match press conference on Friday.
He said: “We are trying to help him as much as possible. He needs to keep improving and with any player, the way he tries and applies himself.
“If he doesn’t perform, it’s up to us. He needs to play within the team.
“[We will] try to give him as much support and confidence as we can because that is going to help him for sure.”