Fulham 0-1 Arsenal: Goals , Highlights and all that went wrong
Summary
Arsenal managed to scrape out a 1-0 win over Fulham in a pretty tight Premier League clash at Craven Cottage. There was a crowd of 27,736 fans there to see it all.
Arsenal have now taken the top spot in the Premier League with 19 points – their fifth win on the trot in all comps – while Fulham, under Marco Silva, slumped to tenth spot on 8 points.
They threw everything at it, but just couldn’t seem to get a shot on target. That card at the top shows just how much Arsenal dominated the game – 63 per cent possession and five shots on target, but just 37 and zero for Fulham. A proper London derby this one, but it was a set-piece that did the business, with Leandro Trossard being the man to spoil the party.
Goals
Just one goal scored in the game , and it did come in the 58th minute when Leandro Trossard somehow managed to convert at the far post after a corner from Bukayo Saka that Gabriel Magalhães had flicked on. It was a bit of a shock to everyone really, as Fulham had been looking incredibly dangerous.
Player of the Match
The fans on X pretty much all agreed that Bukayo Saka was the standout player that day, what with his brilliant assist and the way he kept causing all sorts of problems on the wing. His corner delivery was particularly key in getting Arsenal that all important goal.
Match Highlights
Fulham started off like a house on fire, with Raúl Jiménez and Harry Wilson creating all sorts of chances in the early going, the latter of them coming agonisingly close to scoring after Alex Iwobi had put him through. Bernd Leno was on top form though, making some top-drawer saves to deny Viktor Gyökeres and Bukayo Saka. Ditto David Raya, who made a brilliant save to keep out Josh King‘s cross-shot. Arsenal‘s offside trap caught Riccardo Calafiori out before half-time, bringing an end to any hopes of a Fulham goal before the break. The second half though, was a different story altogether.
Fulham lost Joachim Andersen to injury, and then Tom Cairney to a knock, which brought Emile Smith Rowe on for his former club. Then to make things even worse for Fulham, a VAR review in the 66th minute went against them, overturning a penalty for Bukayo Saka after the challenge by Kevin was deemed fair. Gabriel Martinelli, who’d come on as a sub, had a couple of chances towards the end but just couldn’t seem to get it past the keeper, and Arsenal hung on for all nine minutes of stoppage time.
Arteta afterwards praised his team’s ability to execute set-pieces, while Silva lamented the fact that Fulham just couldn’t seem to finish off their chances when it really mattered. Arsenal now face Leicester, while Fulham are off to play Bournemouth.
