Arsenal set a new club winning record away from home in their 4-0 Premier League trouncing of Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
Following last weekend's frustrating 2-2 draw with North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur and an unconvincing 1-0 EFL Cup third-round win at Brentford, the Gunners turned up the heat on the South Coast.
Bukayo Saka's header from point-blank range propelled the Gunners ahead with 17 minutes on the clock, before Martin Odegaard found the bottom corner from 12 yards after Max Aarons chopped down Eddie Nketiah.
Mikel Arteta's men were awarded another penalty early in the second half for Ryan Christie's challenge on Odegaard, and Saka handed the ball over to Kai Havertz to score his first Arsenal goal on his 10th appearance for the club.
With the tie already a foregone conclusion, Odegaard's free kick met the head of Ben White for Arsenal's fourth in the 90th minute, and David Raya only had one meaningful save to make - keeping out Christie's low effort in the first half.
© Reuters
By coming away from the Vitality Stadium with all three points and a clean sheet, Arsenal have won their first three away games in a top-flight season without conceding for the first time ever.
Prior to the 2023-24 season, the Gunners had only ever won their first three away games in a campaign three times - albeit without keeping a trio of clean sheets - starting in the 1930-31 season under the legendary Herbert Chapman.
Arsenal won their first-ever top-flight title that year, while in the 2004-05 season, the Gunners defeated Everton, Norwich City, Fulham and Manchester City in their opening four away matches.
Arsenal would have to wait another nine years before taking nine points from their first three away contests, defeating Fulham, Sunderland and Swansea City on rival turf in the 2013-14 campaign, where they would finish fourth despite spending 19 weeks at the top of the table.
However, the Gunners' resilience on the road has not translated into regular clean sheets at the Emirates, as while they have already posted three Premier League shut-outs away from home this season, they have only managed as many in front of their own fans in the whole of 2023.
© Reuters
Only Newcastle United, Everton and Wolverhampton Wanderers have left the Emirates without scoring since the turn of the year, and Arsenal have been breached by Nottingham Forest, Fulham, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur already this term.
While expressing his delight at his side's run of unblemished defensive performances on enemy territory, Arteta stressed the importance of tightening up at the back when they return to their North London headquarters.
"It's a huge one, to win games in this league, keeping clean sheets for us is going to be crucial and away from home is probably even bigger and the challenge is now can we take that into the Emirates as well and be consistent," Arteta said in his post-game press conference.
Arsenal had briefly risen to second in the table on Saturday, but with Tottenham Hotspur overcoming a nine-man Liverpool 2-1 in the day's late kickoff, the Gunners have now been bumped down to third.
Nevertheless, Arteta's side remain unbeaten in all tournaments this term heading into Tuesday's Champions League showdown with Ligue 1 outfit Lens at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis, which precedes the mouthwatering visit of Manchester City to the Emirates next Sunday.
No Data Analysis info
