8 December 2024
Fulham 1 Arsenal 1
Fulham welcomed Arsenal to Craven Cottage as the visitors looked to close the gap between them and leaders Liverpool. Marco Silva’s side didn’t have the best of records against The Gunners, despite beating them in this fixture last season. Mikel Arteta’s side can no longer afford to drop any points at all if they have ambitions of a title challenge.
Due to injuries, the visitors defence was looking quite makeshift with Partey at right back and Kiwior filling in for Gabriel at centre-back. Despite spending heavily to try and reinforce the depth of the squad, this seemed like a chance for The Cottagers to take advantage with their potent attack that had surprised many sides so far this season.
Arsenal forced an early corner, the cue for the fans in the away end to get excited. This season Arteta’s side has made a name for themselves as set-piece merchants, with Dimitar Berbatov recently calling them ‘Stoke City 2.0’ As the cross came in, Saliba had a free header at the back post but glanced wide of the target.
Tete threaded a ball in behind the visitors’ defence and Jimenez used his strength to keep Kiwior at bay. He struck a right-footed shot across Raya into the far corner. Craven Cottage erupted as the hosts took the lead after only eleven minutes in West London. The Gunners really had their work cut out in this one as a result of the goal.
Havertz and Saka combined out wide and swung a teasing cross into the box but it just eluded a desperate slide from Rice to convert. Arsenal had struggled to create any clear-cut chances and had barely tested Leno in the first-half. That said, apart from the goal, The Cottagers had created very little themselves in a closely fought match.
Mikel Arteta would have to work some magic during the interval as a draw would now feel like defeat having fallen so far behind the leaders. Odegaard was pivotal to everything the visitors were doing in an attacking sense but they seemed to lack that cutting edge in the final third. Fulham had dealt with the aerial threat far too easily.
After the interval, Traore gave the ball away and Saka broke. He was brought down in a wide area, giving Stoke City a chance to lump a cross into the danger area. Rice put a teasing free-kick into the box but no Arsenal player was able to get on the end of it. They recycled it well and managed to force another corner, much to the delight of the away end.
As the cross came in, Havertz headed back across goal for Saliba to tap home from two yards out. VAR took some time to check the goal, trying to work out if The Gunners’ defender was in an offside position. After some deliberation, it was adjudged that Robinson had just played him on and Arsenal had their equaliser.
With the majority of the second-half remaining, Arteta’s side knew that nothing but victory would do. They needed to find another goal if they were to close the gap on the sides above them. It seemed at times they were relying on set-pieces far too much and not creating enough goalscoring opportunities from open play.
They should have taken the lead when a Rice corner picked out Partey, who had a completely free header in the middle. Somehow, he directed his effort wide of the target. It was a glaring miss and one that would cost the visitors dearly if they were to come away from West London with anything other than three points.
On a rare counter-attack Pereira broke down the left but seemed to have little support in the box. As a result, he opted to take on the shot from a tight angle. Raya made a block with his feet and The Gunners cleared their lines. As the visitors were throwing more bodies forward, it left them open at the back for The Cottagers pacey wingers to exploit.
As the ball was worked out wide to Martinelli. He swung in a cross to the back post where Saka stooped down and headed past Leno at the near post. The away end erupted and The Gunners celebrated like the title was theirs. Dangerous move with VAR reviews in the modern game, you can be left with egg on your face.
Sometimes you can be forgiven for wondering whether Alan Turing broke the enigma code quicker than VAR can make an offside decision. The camera pans to the studio in Stockley Park, soft drinks, crisps and sandwiches everywhere. With their headsets and microphones on, it looks like the worst e-sports team the world has ever seen.
Eventually they came to the decision that Martinelli was offside in the build-up and the goal was ruled out. This is where all that celebrating earlier comes back to bite you. This is what we have created of the modern game, players wondering whether to celebrate goals or not. Well done Premier League, you are slowly turning the game we love into the NFL.
Fulham held on to share the points and for Arsenal, this felt like another two points dropped. The bottom line is that Mikel Arteta’s side had not created enough clear-cut chances in front of goal. Marco Silva’s side showed they are no pushovers this season and have the capability of making life difficult for anyone at Craven Cottage.
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