ARSENAL legend Ian Wright says he does not “blame” Gary O’Neil for feeling Cherries deserved something at Emirates Stadium, adding how the visitors “defended very well”.

Relegation-threatened Cherries were on course to produce the shock of the Premier League season on Saturday, leading 2-0 at the table-toppers when Marcos Senesi headed in after Philip Billing’s early opener.

But the Gunners rallied, with goals from Thomas Partey and Ben White, before Reiss Nelson’s fabulous, dramatic late winner.

The 3-2 win for Arsenal put them five points clear of Manchester City and left Cherries bottom of the pile.

Reflecting on Cherries going 2-0 up, Wright, in his role as pundit on BBC’s Match of the Day, said: “That was a sad time for me!

“To be fair, Bournemouth have to get a lot of credit, because they defended very well.”

Discussing the comeback, Wright added: “You can see the amount of space they’re leaving for Emile Smith Rowe and then once he gets that header in, (Antoine) Semenyo is not tight on Partey (to make it 2-1) and then that was the start of it.

“(Jaidon) Anthony has kind of taken his eye off the ball and they got tired.

“They did get tired because they defended so well. Ben White, that is a brilliant finish from there, on the volley (to make it 2-2)

“Now Arsenal are going for it but Bournemouth, with all the numbers in there, defended very well.

“I don’t blame Gary O’Neil for saying they deserved something.

“I was thinking it’s not going to happen, we’re not going to get anything from the corner because they’re too big. And then this happens, on his weaker foot, what a wonderful strike from Reiss.

“It was amazing.”

Cherries had made the perfect start, Billing netting the second fastest goal in Premier League history, notching in just 9.11 seconds after a well-executed training ground kick-off routine.

“There was good initiative from Bournemouth,” said former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy, sitting alongside Wright.

“It goes down the right hand side, they don’t stop the cross, which is the first mistake and then Gabriel, a poor clearance on his weak foot and they’re a goal down.

“Philip Billing, decent finish, it gave Bournemouth a bit of confidence.

“You can see the numbers on the left hand side, making good, positive runs to get into the box. But it is poor from Arsenal. Just not awake, not ready, not alert.

“And then to go two down off a set play, you start thinking, this is turning into a really bad day.

“Good header from Senesi and then the incredible happened.”