‘Could prove just as costly’ – Familiar story for Arsenal as they fail to beat Fulham again | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta’s side effectively lost the Premier League title race by dropping five points against Fulham last season and their failure to win this match could prove just as costly.

They came back from a Raul Jimenez first-half goal to equalise through William Saliba after the break and closed the gap on leaders Liverpool to six points. The reality of that is Liverpool now have a game in hand and could easily restore a nine-point gap at the top of the table.

The set piece kings of the top flight were the better side on the day and had enough chances to win with a comfortable margin, but were far from being at their best against a Marco Silva set up that seems to have them worked out so far as results go.

Arsenal’s first corner came inside the third minute as the travelling supports belted out a loud chorus of ‘set piece again, ole, ole’. Declan Rice swung it in from the left and William Saliba just got his head to the ball, glancing it narrowly wide.

More injury issues at the back as Gabriel and Riccardo Calafiori missed their second game this week and Oleksandr Zinchenko did not travel, picking up a problem in the midweek win over Manchester United. Thomas Partey came in at right back and Jorginho covered for the Ghana international in midfield. It meant Arteta had to select a ninth different back four in only 15 games this season.

And it was an error from the new look defence that enabled Fulham to take the lead with their first attack after 11 minutes. Jakub Kiwior was caught in two minds and out of position when Kenny Tete sent Jimenez clear to score with a low shot past David Raya. It was a quality finish from the Mexican forward but Arteta will have felt the chance should not have been allowed.

Perhaps William Saliba could have done more to get across and cover for his team-mate, too. Either way, Arsenal were behind in a match they had to win, and Fulham broke a 65-year-old club record by scoring for the 14th consecutive match. Long balls to Jimenez against Kiwior was a tactic worth pursuing.

And, of course, now they had a lead to defend, they could revert to their safety-first approach of defending deep and in numbers. It meant for a busy afternoon for former Arsenal keeper Bernd Leno as he fended off a series of crosses from open play, corners and free kicks.

He also made a good stop at the near post from a Bukayo Saka shot following an impressive dribble down the right form the Arsenal winger. Rice was inches away from finishing from a Saka pass soon after as Arsenal turned up the pressure ging into half-time.

They went up another level at the start of the second half as their fifth corner resulted in a 52nd minute equaliser. Rice pinged the ball to the far post where Kai Havertz found himself in space to head powerfully down and Saliba tapped the ball over the line.

Both managers made moves to win the game going into the final half an hour as Arteta replaced the ineffective Leandro Trossard with Gabriel Martinelli and Marco Silva made a double change, including hauling off Emile Smith Rowe. It was a wholly underwhelming performance for the former Arsenal man against his ex-teammates.

Arsenal could and should have taken the lead from a 69th minute corner, their sixth, when an unmarked Thomas Partey headed wide with the goal at his mercy.

Then, just as it seemed Arsenal’s mission was doomed and Fulham’s dogged defending would be rewarded, Saka appeared to head in Arsenal’s winner in almost the last minute of normal time. VAR and a hairline offside decision came to their rescue.

RATINGS

Fulham: Leno 6, Tete 6, Diop 7, Bassey 6, Robinson 6, Berge 6, Lukic 6 (Cuenca 90), Adama 6 (Wilson 60), Smith Rowe 5 (Pereira 60) , Iwobi 6, Jimenez 7 (Muniz 80). Subs: Benda, Castagne, , Sessegnon, King, Godo.

Arsenal: Raya 6, Partey 6, Saliba 7, Kiwior 5, Timber 7, Odegaard 6 (Nwaneri 79), Jorginho 6 (Merino 73), Rice 6, Saka 7, Havertz 5 (Jesus 73), Trossard 5 (Martinelli 60) . Subs: Neto, Tierney, Lewis-Skelly, Heaven, Martinelli, Sterling.