CHERRIES suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Premier League title-chasers Arsenal yesterday. Here, we look at the game’s key factors.

GIANT STRIDES

Bournemouth Echo:

Cherries could easily have buckled after Arsenal had hit them with a quickfire first-half double.

Thoughts of some Cherries followers probably turned to the early-season beatings at the hands of Spurs and Manchester City.

But Eddie Howe’s men are made of sterner stuff these days and the nature of their positive response was an encouraging sign for the rest of the season.

They took the game to Arsenal, especially in the second half, and it could have been a different story but for some profligate finishing and excellent goalkeeping from Petr Cech.

LETHAL FINISHING

Bournemouth Echo:

Mesut Ozil and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were nowhere near as influential as they could have been – except when it came to taking their respective chances.

Ozil, who had been instrumental in Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Cherries at the Emirates, had a relatively quiet game by his exceptionally high standards.

But he showed his ruthlessness when it mattered and was in the right place to convert the opener, applying an emphatic finish to Olivier Giroud’s knockdown.

It was a similar story with Oxlade-Chamberlain whose threat was nullified by Cherries for most of the match, apart from when he doubled the Gunners’ lead with a superb strike.

IMPORTANT NOT TO LOSE TO THE TEAMS AROUND YOU

Bournemouth Echo:

While losing twice in the space of six weeks at the hands of Arsenal would have been a source of great disappointment to Cherries, they will know their destiny is unlikely to be decided by these defeats.

The midweek victory at Crystal Palace, where most people outside the Vitality Stadium had probably not expected them to win, almost deemed this a no-lose encounter for Eddie Howe’s team.

With keeping their relegation rivals at arm’s length the priority, Cherries can look back on a week which saw them widen the gap between themselves and the bottom three from four to five points.

As December proved, Cherries can more than hold their own against the so-called big guns but how they fare against the likes of Newcastle, Swansea, Aston Villa and West Brom will arguably be more important.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Bournemouth Echo:

Petr Cech made a number of smart saves to preserve Arsenal’s lead, the pick of which was a stunning stop to push Harry Arter’s rasping first-half strike over the crossbar.

MOAN OF THE MATCH

Bournemouth Echo:

Irrespective of what Arsene Wenger might have said, Mathieu Flamini’s lunging tackle on Dan Gosling merited a red card. For Wenger to suggest Arsenal should have had a free kick was laughable.