Jordon Ibe's first Premier League goal for Bournemouth condemned Arsenal to a 2-1 loss on the south coast, with Alexis Sanchez conspicuous by his absence.
Ibe's first strike for the Cherries in 46 league appearances sunk the Gunners, who leaked two goals in five minutes in this turnaround defeat.
Callum Wilson's third goal in four league games had Bournemouth level after Hector Bellerin handed the visitors a lead they could only squander.
The defeat, and its manner, proved another blow to Arsene Wenger, with the Arsenal boss now resigned to losing key attacker Sanchez in the January transfer window.
James Olley assesses the key talking points for Arsenal...
Wenger under renewed pressure
Everton, Burnley and Crystal Palace: those are the only three teams Arsenal have beaten on the road in the Premier League this season.
They threatened to belatedly add to that list here through Hector Bellerin’s 52nd-minute goal before Callum Wilson and Jordan Ibe struck to condemn the Gunners to another embarrassing defeat.
Bournemouth had won only once since November 18, but they were still able to expose some now-typical substandard Arsenal defending to mount a comeback which places manager Arsene Wenger under renewed pressure.
January incomings are a must to revive a squad which looks short on confidence and, without Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, quality. Wenger’s fight to prove he is the right man to take Arsenal forward just got a little harder.
Sanchez’s Arsenal career is surely over
His destination may well remain undecided for the time being but there is now virtually no chance of Alexis Sanchez still being an Arsenal player on February 1.
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The 29-year-old was omitted from the matchday squad here amid ongoing speculation over a move to either Manchester City or Manchester United, with the latter now emerging as serious rivals for his signature.
Arsenal wilted in his absence but on the ground where he threw his gloves to the floor in one of many public displays of frustration following a 3-3 draw here last season, there are plenty at the club who want to draw a line under the long-running saga and move on.
That said, if Sanchez was watching this, he may well also feel relieved his time at the club is coming to an end.
Wilshere shows how far he’s come
Jack Wilshere began to revive his career during hastily-arranged loan spell on the south coast last season before a broken leg put his Arsenal future in jeopardy all over again.
Yet he has done everything asked of him this season and underlined that progress on his return to Vitality Stadium.
The 26-year-old was Arsenal’s best player, particularly in the first half, directing play and taking risks in possession which should only increase the possibility of going to the World Cup finals with England.
Before that, however, is the more pressing matter of his contract situation. The Gunners may have admitted defeat with Sanchez but Wilshere wants to stay and his form is surely worthy of a new deal.
He was unable to prevent Bournemouth’s second half comeback but, nevertheless, Arsenal need to get Wilshere’s situation resolved.
More to Lacazette’s drought than meets the eye
This was the ninth game in which Alexandre Lacazette failed to find the target and that statistic alone is sufficient for some to question the impact of Arsenal’s club-record £52.7million signing.
There is no doubt Lacazette would like to improve his goal return but the Cech told this newspaper in a December interview that the players still had to adjust to the striker as much as the other way around and that was in evidence here.
The 26-year-old fed off scraps and, on occasion, turned provider, most noticeably when releasing Danny Welbeck for an excellent first-half chance which Begovic saved well with his feet.
The suspicion remains he is not getting the service he prefers - whether that improves once Sanchez departs remains to be seen. In addition, of those nine games, he has only completed three.