“WINNING ugly away from home is becoming a thing for Arsenal. So if they keep doing this despite not playing particularly well, then Mikel Arteta’s team will probably win the Premier League, finally. Sign up for the Arsenal newsletter Thank you! Leandro Trossard scored the only goal of the game as Arsenal beat Fulham 1-0”, — write: www.thesun.co.uk
So if they keep doing this despite not playing particularly well, then Mikel Arteta’s team will probably win the Premier League, finally.
Thank you!
Leandro Trossard scored the only goal of the game as Arsenal beat Fulham 1-0Credit: Getty
The result saw the Gunners move three points clear at the top of the tableCredit: AFP The team which nicked a 1-0 win at Manchester United on the opening day and struck in the 96th minute to scrape a 2-1 victory at Newcastle were once again underwhelming on the road, this time by the River Thames.
On a day when Arsenal’s pieces were really poor, the masters of the corner still scored from this route, Leandro Trossard registering his first goal of the season thanks to his knee.
Even though Viktor Gyokeres looks as though he needs to sit in a dark room for a few days and watch endless replays of his goals for Sporting Lisbon, Arteta will not care.
Arsenal seem to have discovered a backbone and maybe, are also getting a bit of luck. Like that win at Newcastle, this is the type of game they would have lost last term.
The fact Arsenal had only managed one point in their last two visits to Craven Cottage illustrated this has been an unhappy venue for Arteta.
And it could have been different had Fulham put away their first half chances as Marco Silva’s team were decent.
As for Arsenal, it tells you everything about their lack of bite up front that it was left-back Riccardo Calafiori who had a go at scoring a first half hat-trick.
As for £54.8million forward Gyokeres, it is now seven Arsenal games without a goal.
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And worst of all, he ended up being a figure of fun for Fulham’s fans from the moment he put the ball out for a throw-in after 30 seconds.
He fell on his backside when attempting a shot and while he had a couple of shots saved, he also scooped a shot over the bar in embarrassing fashion towards the end.
Yet it was not just Gyokeres in a dark blue shirt who was poor. His Arsenal team-mates did not help themselves with Jurrien Timber and Gabriel Magalhaes getting caught and creating problems for their own team.
Magalhaes had been on international duty with Brazil in South Korea and Japan so that hardly helped.
Meanwhile, Gyokeres had been on international duty closer to home, with Sweden, but even for his country, he failed to score in the World Cup qualifiers against Switzerland and Kosovo
Trossard fired Arsenal ahead from a corner in the 58th minuteCredit: Reuters
It sparked wild celebrations and would prove to be the decisive goalCredit: Getty While Gyokeres looked sluggish and almost nervous, Fulham were full of energy in attack.
Raul Jimenez had a shot deflected wide and from the resulting corner, Tom Cairney’s volley was blocked by Martin Zubimendi and Harry Wilson should have done better with a curling shot.
Josh King also saw a mishit cross nearly dip into the net but a back-peddling David Raya tipped the ball over.
Bukayo Saka thought he had won a penalty for ArsenalCredit: Reuters
A lengthy VAR check resulted in Anthony Taylor overturning the decisionCredit: Getty In contrast, Italian defender Calafiori seemed to be the only Arsenal player trying to score.
He delivered a brilliant, thunderous finish but was offside and there were two surprising things about this.
Firstly, why the left-back was so high up the pitch to receive Leandro Trossard’s pass and secondly, how he was able to deliver a finish any striker would have been proud of. Particularly Gyokeres.
That thunderous effort was via Calafiori’s left foot yet even with his right, the £42m signing from Bologna proved he can be a danger and his goal-bound shot was diverted for a corner by Joachim Andersen.
Fulham only managed one shot on targetCredit: Reuters
David Raya was forced into a big save at Craven CottageCredit: Getty Calafiori had a third chance, but fired over the bar, although just before that, Gyokeres finally had a chance but the effort was too close to Bernd Leno.
In the second half, Gyokeres, looking desperate, appealed for a penalty but went down under a challenge from Jorge Cuenca far too easily.
Just before the hour, Arsenal continued their incredible record at scoring from corners.
Magalhaes rose above everyone else to get his head to Saka’s cross and Trossard was in the right place even though it was not the prettiest goal of his career.
Mikel Arteta was pleased to get the win despite Arsenal’s performanceCredit: Getty
Marco Silva was not a happy bunny at full timeCredit: PA Arsenal thought they had a chance to make things comfortable when they were given a penalty for Kevin’s challenge on Bukayo Saka but VAR spotted that the Brazilian winger got a touch.
As Anthony Taylor announced the decision to change his mind after consulting the monitor, Saka put both hands on his head and laughed with frustration as he still seemed to be fouled at the same time as Kevin got the ball.
When nine minutes of injury-time was announced, there was a huge cheer from the home fans.
While Leno delivered a decent double save from Gyokeres and Gabriel Martinelli, Arsenal fans will still have feared some sort of disaster, maybe via a refereeing decision, deep in stoppage time.
But Arsenal held out. And this season, for the moment at least, feels different for them.