Arsenal Held By Fulham At Craven Cottage
Arsenal had a late goal disallowed as they missed the chance to close the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool to four points with a draw against Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Bukayo Saka thought he had given the Gunners all three points when he headed in Gabriel Martinelli’s cross two minutes from time, but the goal was disallowed after the Brazilian was found to be offside during the build-up.
Raul Jimenez, with his sixth goal of the season, put Fulham in front against the run of play when he latched on to Kenny Tete’s ball down the line to fire past David Raya from a tight angle.
Arsenal, looking to capitalise on thepostponement of Liverpool’s Merseyside derby against Everton on Saturday, struggled to carve out opportunities from open play in the first half and managed just one shot on target from Saka.
But Mikel Arteta’s side were level within six minutes of the second half after a well-worked corner kick routine saw William Saliba convert Kai Havertz’s knockdown.
It was one-way traffic after that as Arsenal pushed to find a winner but they struggled to break down a resolute Fulham side.
The draw means Arsenal are six points behind leaders Liverpool, having played a game more.
After the 4-1 defeat at home to Wolves a fortnight ago, Fulham fans could have been forgiven for dreading a games against Tottenham, Brighton and Arsenal within seven days.
In hindsight, they need not have worried.
A spirited draw against Spurs last weekend was bettered by a 3-1 win against Brighton in midweek.
The visit of Arsenal, though, was the toughest of the lot.
Silva made four changes to his starting line-up from the team that beat Brighton.
In came Tete, Sasa Lukic, Jimenez and Adama Traore with Timothy Castagne, Reiss Nelson, Rodrigo Muniz and Harry Wilson dropping out.
The Cottagers had to weather an early storm as Arsenal settled instantly into their rhythm.
But it was two of Silva’s changes that combined to give Fulham the lead in the 11th minute.
Tete – remarkably, with his first touch of the game – threaded a lovely ball down the line between Jurrien Timber and Jakub Kiwior to find Jimenez.
The Mexican, quickly accompanied by Saliba, had plenty to do but he took Raya by surprise by taking his shot early and finding the bottom corner.
It was the home side’s only shot on target in the first half but Fulham were good value for their lead as they limited Arsenal to just one shot on target of their own.
A less determined side would have caved after Saliba’s equaliser, as Arsenal dominated the remainder of the match in search of a winner.
The Cottagers carried a counter-attacking threat of their own through substitutes Harry Wilson and Andreas Pereira, with the latter testing Raya at his near post late on.
It was the end of a testing week for Silva’s side but it is one that they have passed with flying colours by taking five points from the nine available.
