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Arsenal squandered a golden opportunity to close the gap on Liverpool after a frustrating 1-1 draw at Fulham.
A resilient defensive effort from the hosts and Arsenalās continued struggles in open play left Mikel Arteta with plenty to reflect on…CLICK TO READ THE FULL NEWS HEREā¶ā¶Ā
VAR intervention denied a late Bukayo Saka winner, capping off a frustrating afternoon for the Gunners.
Arsenal blew their chance to close the gap on Liverpool to just four points as they left Craven Cottage with just a single point on Sunday.
A resolute defensive display from the hosts, combined with a lack of a cutting edge from Arsenal saw the Cottagers grab a 1-1 draw despite an xG of 0.14.
Fulham opened the scoring in 11th minute, having barely touched the ball in that time. Jakub Kiwior got caught out under the ball, allowing Raul Jimenez in. William Saliba did not close his angle down enough and David Raya will feel he should have done better.
It was pretty much the only thing Fulham offered all game.
It took Arsenal until the second half before they managed to find a way to unlock Fulhamās defence and, of course, it came from a corner.
Declan Rice, this time, with Saliba tapping it home for his second goal this week, all via a deft touch from Kai Havertz.
Arsenal thought they had won it in the 89th minute when Gabriel Martinelliās whipped cross was headed in by Bukayo Saka at the far post, but VAR intervened.
Despite looking across the entire backline, Martinelli was a toe offside. And that was that.
Trials of Arsene Wengerās ādaylightā offside rule should be coming soon.
There are, of course, some mitigating factors.
With no Riccardo Calafiori to call on due to injury, Jurrien Timber found himself switched again. Thomas Partey, at right back, is just not able to link with Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard in the ways weāve come to enjoy.
In the heart of defence, Arsenal lost the stability of Gabriel, as well as his goal threat. Despite his performance against Manchester united midweek, Jakub Kiwior generally looks devoid of confidence and this game wonāt have helped.
These canāt, however, be excuses.
There is much for Arsenal and Mikel Arteta to ponder after the game, not least the teamās growing reliance on set-pieces. Their last three goals have all come by that route and Arsenal currently sit 13th in the Premier League for their open play xG.
Asked if Arsenal were creating enough from open play at the post-match press conference, Arteta replied, āItās never enough if you donāt score three, four or five. If they play 11 direct balls I want to win 11. We want to win 100%.
ā[Iām] gutted that we didnāt win it because I think we deserved to win from the beginning to the end. We did almost everything that we had to do to win it. This is the quality of the opposition and the league. For millimetres, we could have been here with a really dominant win.ā..CLICK TO READ THE FULL NEWS HEREā¶ā¶Ā
