Mikel Arteta failed to galvanise an instant upturn in Arsenal's fortunes as the Gunners had to come from behind just to salvage a point in a 1-1 Boxing Day draw at Bournemouth.
After a bright start from the visitors, the ills of Arsenal's season that have seen Arteta handed his first senior managerial role were obvious when Dan Gosling put Bournemouth in front on the half hour mark.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang once again rode to his side's rescue to level, but the Gunners could not make the most of their dominance of the ball after the break against a Bournemouth side that had lost six of their last seven games.
A point leaves Arsenal still down in 11th and with one win in their last 14 games in all competitions under three different managers.
Arteta recalled the experienced trio of Mesut Ozil, Alexandre Lacazette and Sokratis Papastathopoulos from the side that drew 0-0 at Everton with the Spaniard watching on from the stands on Saturday.
Ozil has faced a barrage of criticism this season due to his limited impact on the field, whilst Arsenal distanced themselves from his comments support for the Muslim minority Uighurs in Xinjiang amid a backlash from China.
The German looked more like his old self in the opening quarter as the visitors dominated possession with Ozil pulling the strings.
Twice he freed Lacazette inside the area, but the French international striker could not get a clean strike on goal.
Reiss Nelson and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang also had efforts blocked, but the Gunners' defensive problems were soon exposed by Bournemouth. Arsenal's clean sheet at Goodison Park at the weekend was their first on the road in the Premier League since the opening day of the season and not for the first time this campaign, they played themselves into trouble as they tried to build from the back.
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