Arsenal snatches draw with Bournemouth

LONDON -Flimsy before halftime, fabulous by the end; Arsenal revealed the split personality that has undermined so many of its Premier League title attempts as it snatched an unforgettable 3-3 draw at Bournemouth Tuesday. Out-battled for an hour by its modest south coast opponent, Arsenal belatedly sparked into life and Olivier Giroud’s glancing header two minutes into stoppage time completed its remarkable recovery from 3-0 down. It was the first time Arsene Wenger’s side had recovered from such a deficit to draw in the Premier League and while it remained fourth, eight points adrift of leader Chelsea which has played a game less, it could yet prove to be pivotal moment in its season as defeat would have been a hammer blow. Swansea City’s new manager Paul Clement was not officially in charge of his side’s match at Crystal Palace but his presence helped the Swans move off the bottom of the table with a 2-1 victory at fellow struggler Crystal Palace. Stoke City also beat Watford 2-0 to leave Chelsea’s match at fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur Wednesday the final instalment of a hectic fixture list. The packed schedule over the New Year period seemed to catch up with Arsenal which was back in action just 48 hours after beating Palace Sunday. It was second-best throughout the first half as Bournemouth moved 2-0 ahead after 20 minutes with a neat Charlie Daniels goal and a Callum Wilson penalty. Ryan Fraser made it 3-0 in the 58th minute before goals from Alexis Sanchez and Lucas Perez set up a barnstorming finale. Bournemouth was hanging on grimly after skipper Simon Francis was sent off in the 82nd minute but was breached again by a rampaging Arsenal side in stoppage time as Giroud pounced to follow up on his “scorpion” volley against Palace Sunday. Atletico blanks Las Palmas Jorge “Koke” Resurreccion and Antoine Griezmann scored a goal in each half as Atletico Madrid defeated Las Palmas 2-0 in a first-leg match in the Round of 16 of the Copa del Rey Tuesday. Koke opened the scoring with a right-foot shot from inside the area in the 24th minute, and Griezmann secured the victory in the 51st with a close-range header after being set up by Kevin Gameiro. The result ended Las Palmas’ unbeaten run at home this season. It hadn’t lost at Gran Canaria Stadium since a game against Real Madrid in March. Atletico is already nine points behind league leader Real Madrid, and its most realistic chance of a domestic trophy this season is in the Copa. In other games it was: Celta Vigo beat Valencia 4-1, while Nano scored in the first half and Bebe and Adrian Gonzalez added a goal each in the second as Eibar easily defeated Osasuna, while Deportivo La Coruna scored in stoppage time to salvage a 2-2 draw against Alaves after trailing 2-0 at halftime. Three other first-leg matches will be played Wednesday, including Real Madrid against Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Defending champion Barcelona plays at Athletic Bilbao Thursday.