Arsenal worlds away from nervy Bournemouth win as Arteta hopes to prove Sir Alex Ferguson right

Two home games against Bournemouth. Two 98th minute goals. The feeling around them could not be more different, though.

Last year's game will go down in infamy as possibly the greatest day the Emirates Stadium has seen. Looking back on it in the cold light of day, even Mikel Arteta admits that those kind of helter-skelter matches cost Arsenal in the end, though.

«When you play every three days and you put more physical and mental stress and demands in the later stages of matches, there’s an accumulation there,» the Spaniard said in his pre-match press conference. «Normally the teams that get to the latter stages [of a title race], you see how dominant they are in matches, the subs that they make. That’s something that is pretty relevant I think.»

Games like that, while entertaining for the neutral, are akin to a sugar rush. The high is fantastic, but the crash is inevitable.

Arsenal have sustained this title challenge on a far more balanced diet of comfortable victories this season. Make no mistake, there were a few hairy moments in this one. David Raya is probably fortunate to be picking up the Premier League golden glove award after punching weakly for Antoine Semenyo's disallowed goal, and Bournemouth had a threat.

The difference is that Arsenal can manage those moments now.

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It was at this exact stage last season where they crumbled against Brighton after failing to go in front early on. Although there were a few nerves in the crowd this time around, Arsenal's players never looked short on the belief that they could get over the line.

As Joe Cole