Former Premier League forward Jan Age Fjortoft criticised two Arsenal players after the Gunners suffered a disappointing Premier League defeat to Bournemouth.

Mikel Arteta’s side had the chance to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League to 12 points as they welcomed Bournemouth to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

The Gunners are chasing a first Premier League title since 2004 and beating Bournemouth would have put even more pressure on Manchester City ahead of their trip to Chelsea on Sunday.

But Arsenal fell to a 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth, meaning they have now lost three of their last four games and could see their lead in the title race cut to six points come the end of the weekend.

Man City will have another game in hand to potentially reduce the gap to three, while they can pull even closer to Arsenal when the two title rivals meet at the Etihad Stadium next weekend.

Viktor Gyokeres scored Arsenal’s goal against Bournemouth but also missed a number of chances and Norwegian football legend Fjortoft has questioned if the £64m striker’s form is ‘good enough’ to fire the Gunners to the title.

Gyokeres has been widely mocked in the aftermath of the Bournemouth setback after he said Arsenal were not helped by the ‘dry pitch’ at the Emirates Stadium.

‘I guess the best strikers in the world will score on dry pitches, wet pitches, snow, rain, wind, everything,’ Fjortoft said on ESPN.

‘I don’t want to re-open that debate over Arsenal lacking a top, top striker because Gyokeres just sent Sweden to the World Cup but he did miss some chances today.

‘If you see last season with [Erling] Haaland and [Mohamed] Salah, have there been any champions without that player who can save them on a bad day?

‘Gyokeres scored today and his form is okay but it seems it’s not good enough to shoot you to a championship.’

Fjortoft also criticised Declan Rice’s performance against Bournemouth and said Arsenal are ‘desperately missing’ injured captain Martin Odegaard.

‘I want to mention another name: Declan Rice,’ Fjortoft added. ‘I see he gets the captain’s armband and I talk to English pundits and apparently he’s the biggest leader since Lord Nelson.

‘He was the captain today but I didn’t see that, I didn’t see him doing that. I’m not saying this because he’s Norwegian but I think they miss an in-form Martin Odegaard.

‘Unfortunately he’s having some problems with injuries this season but they’re desperate to get him back because at the moment Declan Rice, the big hope for English football, isn’t producing either.’

Meanwhile, Arteta described Arsenal’s third defeat in four games as a ‘big punch in the face’.

‘It’s a big punch in the face and it’s about how we react now,’ Arteta said. ‘They are a team who haven’t lost for 11 games for a reason, they did a lot right.

‘We were far from efficient. The first chance they had to attack the box, it’s a deflection, a bad defending action and it’s a goal. That’s something we have to recover from.

‘The second half you expect a different game. We did a lot of strange things today. We have been very consistent. This can happen, this is football.’

Asked if his players were ‘hurting’ after losing to Bournemouth, Arteta added: ‘A lot. It has to hurt. They have to take it on the chin. You stand up and go for the fight or you’re out.

‘It’s a big week. A lot at stake. We’re still in a good position in both competitions.’

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Mikel Arteta has been told he ‘cannot trust’ £64m striker Viktor Gyokeres after Arsenal’s crucial Premier League win over Chelsea.

Manchester City applied more pressure to the Gunners by beating Leeds United on Saturday but Arsenal restored their five-point lead in the title race with a 2-1 win over London rivals Chelsea the next day.

Arteta’s side looked second-best in the second half after Chelsea equalised through a Piero Hincapie own goal and cancelled out William Saliba’s early opener.

But Arsenal’s prowess from set-plays once again came to the fore and Jurrien Timber scored a 65th-minute winner before Pedro Neto was sent off for Chelsea.

With Man City boasting a game in hand and Arsenal set to travel to the Etihad Stadium in a blockbuster clash next month, beating Chelsea was crucial to the Gunners’ hopes of winning the Premier League for the first time since 2004.

But Liverpool legend Steve Nicol believes Arteta will still have been ‘worried’ by aspects of Arsenal’s performance and particularly the lack of threat – set-pieces aside – in the final third.

Nicol says Arteta still ‘cannot trust’ Gyokeres despite his recent upturn in form and also criticised several other Arsenal attacking players, including Bukayo Saka.

‘In terms of the game, I didn’t think Chelsea turned up until the 45th minute,’ Nicol said on ESPN. ‘They didn’t contribute anything going forward in the first half other than the own goal.

‘The second half was completely different. Mikel Arteta would have expected Arsenal to start the second half like they started the match but they didn’t do it.

‘That would be the worrying thing for me, that Arsenal didn’t have an answer when it got a little bit pressurised. Even when Chelsea had ten men, Arsenal didn’t control the ball.

‘The midfield was poor, Declan Rice just ran out of steam, it was probably Martin Zubimendi’s worst game in an Arsenal jersey.

‘That would be the biggest concern for Mikel Arteta. They have to go to Man City but the other games are against teams outside the top-six which means they’ll probably be sitting in a tight defensive unit.

‘[Gabriel] Martinelli had one run against Chelsea, [Leandro] Trossard is not doing anything on that left-hand side, [Bukayo] Saka has pretty much disappeared recently and Gyokeres got a couple of goals the other week but you can’t trust him.

‘So how are you going to break down these sides? You’ve got an Arsenal side going forward who look as though they can’t break anyone down and Man City who look like they can and have so many options.

‘If you’re Mikel Arteta, you got the win but you must be a little bit worried.’

Gyokeres endured an underwhelming start to his Arsenal career but has scored eight goals in 13 appearances, including a brace in last weekend’s north London derby against Tottenham.

The £64m summer signing drew a blank on Sunday but Arsenal matchwinner Timber was keen to highlight Chelsea’s quality after the match.

‘It was tough,’ he said. ‘Chelsea are a great team they have amazing players so we’re really happy to come out with three points.

‘The first half going in at 1-1 was a bit of a shame. We didn’t give much away. We were quite dominant. You have to score more goals.

‘Both sides were really good, it was a nice game to watch for the fans and our crowd got us through it and the three points were very important.’

Arsenal continue their Premier League title charge on Wednesday night with a trip to Brighton, who have won their last two games.

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Paul Scholes may not be convinced by one Arsenal star’s quality, but feels the Gunners have a player he would love to call a teammate.

Mikel Arteta’s side is flying high at the top of the Premier League table, enjoying a morale-boosting 4-1 win over rivals Spurs on Sunday after recent draws against Brentford and Wolves.

The victory at Tottenham came thanks to braces from Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyokeres, with the latter taking his tally for the season to 15 goals.

The summer signing from Sporting had a slow start to life with the Gunners, but now has 10 Premier League goals to his name and 15 in all competitions.

Scholes still does not see a striker of elite quality in the former Coventry City man, but reckons his Arsenal teammates will be delighted to play alongside him due to his workrate.

‘I think you’d love to play with him, he works his b******s off, he occupies them [defenders],’ Scholes said on The Good, The Bad and The Football.

‘Has he got the quality of a [Ruud] Van Nistelrooy or an Andy Cole, these kind of people? Probably not, but you’re pleased for him yesterday.’

Scholes had praise for the Swede, but couldn’t resist a dig at both Tottenham and Arsenal in his assessment.

‘He was probably playing against the most disorganised defence you’ve ever seen, that’ll help him,’ said the Manchester United legend.

‘Arsenal do struggle against a team that will just sit back and sit back and get in shape, Arsenal struggle big time.’

Nicky Butt also accepted that Gyokeres has had criticism for his level of quality, especially compared to great Arsenal strikers of the past, but showed his ability with the two finishes he produced against Spurs.

‘He’s had a lot of crap and a lot of pressure on him,’ said the former England midfielder. ‘He must have had a load of stick off Arsenal fans about forwards, the forwards they’ve had, and looking at him, his two finishes yesterday, he hit them as clean as a whistle.’

Eze echoed Scholes’ thoughts on Gyokeres’ workrate, saying after the win on Sunday: ‘He helps the team, not just with his goals but the effort he puts in. It gets players like me in the best positions and it helps a lot. He’s got his two goals today which he deserves.’

Gary Neville was also hugely impressed by the Sweden international, telling Sky Sports: ‘I thought it was his best moment of the season.

‘Not just because he scored two in a game against the biggest rivals and had a wonderful celebration over there with the Arsenal fans, but because his general performance from start to finish is what you would expect from him.’

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