Fulham vs Arsenal Review
Arsenal climbed back to the top of the Premier League with a hard-fought 1-0 win against Fulham, ending the home team’s four-game winning streak at Craven Cottage. After Manchester City set the tone for the title race with a win against Everton, Mikel Arteta’s squad aimed to quickly reclaim their position at the top in west London. Fulham tried to stop their rise, creating early opportunities through Tom Cairney and Harry Wilson in a strong start for the hosts. Riccardo Calafiori believed he had put Arsenal ahead with a powerful left-footed shot, but the goal was disallowed due to offside.
Arsenal struggled to settle at the Cottage, with Wilson missing a shot wide and David Raya making a last-second save to parry Josh King’s awkward cross-shot. However, the visitors finished the first half strongly, as Bernd Leno denied Viktor Gyökeres from a tight angle, and Calafiori came close with another speculative effort. Marco Silva would have been satisfied with his team’s first-half performance but suffered a setback just before halftime when Joachim Andersen had to be substituted due to injury.
After the break, Wilson had another chance, volleying over from Alex Iwobi’s cross, but it was Arteta’s team who took the lead first through Leandro Trossard. The Premier League’s set-piece experts broke the deadlock from a corner, with Gabriel flicking on Bukayo Saka’s delivery into the box, allowing Trossard to finish at the far post. The match then saw drama when referee Anthony Taylor awarded a penalty for a foul by Kevin on Saka in the box, but the Brazilian was spared after the decision was overturned.
Arsenal comfortably maintained their strong away form, having lost just once in their last 18 Premier League away matches (with 10 wins and 7 draws). On the other hand, Fulham have only won one of their last 15 Premier League home encounters against this opponent (with 4 draws and 10 losses) and are currently 14th in the table after experiencing their third straight league defeat for the first time since December 2023.
