Fulham (1) 2 Arsenal (1) 1
Premier League
Craven Cottage, Stevenage Road, London SW6 6HH
Sunday, 31st December 2023. Kick-off time: 2.00pm
(4-3-3) David Raya; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Jakob Kiwior; Martin Ødegaard (c), Declan Rice, Kai Havertz; Bukayo Saka, Eddie Nketiah, Gabriel Martinelli.
Substitutes: Aaron Ramsdale, Gabriel Jesus, Emile Smith-Rowe, Cédric Soares, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Leandro Trossard, (Jorge Luiz Frello Filho) Jorginho, Reiss Nelson, Mohamed Elneny.
Scorers: Bukayo Saka (5 mins)
Yellow Cards: William Saliba
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 61%
Referee: Josh Smith
Assistant Referees: Eddie Smart, Nick Greenhalgh
Fourth Official: Tim Robinson
VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Paul Tierney; AVAR Scott Ledger
Attendance: c.25,000
After last week’s disaster against West Ham United, it is more than imperative then ever that we take all three points here at Craven Cottage this afternoon. We cannot afford to slip behind, as the Premiership race is always an extremely tight one (as we know). so we have to hope that our strikers are in scoring form today.
Within two minutes of the start, a superb shot from our captain flew just inches wide of the Fulham goal, which certainly showed our intent from the beginning. We had started the match in fine fettle, chasing every ball, closing down every Fulham attempt; in fact, after just five minutes, playing out from the back with David Raya distributing the ball to Gabriel Martinelli who took the ball up the field and after his shot was saved by Bernd Leno, our man Bukayo Saka was quick on the scene to tap the ball into the back of the net from just four yards out. A superb start. The home side were trying to look for spaces and gaps, and as such were attempting to attack us down the wings, but to no avail, thankfully. However, our flying winger Gabriel Martinelli continued to threaten the opposition by constantly challenging Fulham’s defenders down the left wing as we tried to extend our early lead. However, we were almost caught cold when Antonee Robinson ran down the left wing and crossed a deceptive low ball for Raúl Jiménez, whose right-footed shot from the centre of the penalty area was well saved by David Raya confidently. Although we were in the lead, Fulham were challenging our control with penetrating runs from their strikers, with a right-footed shot by Willian, who cut inside from the left wing, that went mighty close inches past David Raya’s left hand post. It was becoming apparent that ex-Gunners Alex Iwobi and Willian (along with Raúl Jiménez formerly of Wolverhampton Wanderers) and Antonee Robinson are indeed causing us issues when they run at our defenders, which is something that needs to be addressed quickly. David Raya appeared to have an issue with his eye, but after it was looked at by the medical team, he was fit enough to continue playing between the sticks. Sure enough, our fears were realised when Fulham caught us on the break, and after a quick low ball from the left wing exposed our defence, and all Raúl Jiménez had to do was merely tap the ball past a diving David Raya to score the equaliser. Arsenal appeared to wake up a bit after the goal as we started to be on the hunt for more goals, but again, we allowed the opposition to get back into the match, which is quite worrying, to say the least. After a superb shot by Gabriel Martinelli from outside the penalty area which flew over the bar, Bukayo Saka was shoved in the back by Raúl Jiménez which should, by rights have been a free-kick, but the referee ignored our appeals. Four minutes from the break, after some clever ball work from the right wing, a superb Gabriel Martinelli side-footed shot from the centre of the Fulham penalty area went inches wide. During the four minutes injury time, both Eddie Nketiah and Declan Rice came close to scoring with strong shots, but we went into half-time a goal apiece.
The home side started the second half, and with the only replacement being Takehiro Tomiyasu for Jakub Kiwior, we had the first chance to score within the first two minutes, when a Gabriel Martinelli shot went wide of former Gunner goalie Bernd Leno’s post. After a Fulham attempt on goal which was blocked, we counter attacked, but sadly, all of our work went nowhere, after Ben White moved forward down the right wing, but he chipped a cross way over the crossbar. The match appeared to go flat, and to be fair we looked like we were running out of ideas with a real inability to break the home side down effectively. It was not good to see Gabriel and Declan Rice having a disagreement after a Fulham attack which led to a corner for the home side. After yet another corner, Fulham grabbed a second goal on the hour when Bobby De Cordova-Reid scored from close range after sone messy defending on our part. Dear God, not again; a very poor, amateurish goal to concede, and at this level, it is just not acceptable, I’m afraid. We really need to wake up and start looking like Premiership contenders before it all starts to slip away (again). Anyway, we did attack the home side, and to be fair, Bukayo Saka was unlucky not to score when he volleyed a ball over the crossbar from close range. After Bukayo Saka was brought down just outside the penalty area, the resulting Martin Ødegaard free-kick simply flew wide and high over the crossbar. Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard replaced Ben White and Gabriel Martinelli after sixty-six minutes in order for us to get something out of this game, and we switched to three players at the back as Ben White has now been substituted. Declan Rice was now sitting in front of those said three defenders with Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Jesus up front, whilst everyone else appears to have a free hand to move where they like on the pitch. A brave move by Mikel Arteta, and time will tell if this plan is successful or not. The rain is absolutely pouring down at Craven Cottage to add to our misery, and Reiss Nelson then replaced an ineffective Kai Havertz with about a quarter of an hour left of this match. Leandro Trossard put a tremendous curling ball in the penalty area from the left wing, but it was beyond Gabriel Jesus and a diving Gabriel to connect with it, sadly. After a couple of Fulham attempts which were kept out by David Raya, our centre-back William Saliba was booked for a foul outside the penalty area, and the subsequent Fulham free-kick bounced off the crossbar with David Raya beaten all the way. The home side truly have the upper hand, and we were doing all we could to try and stop them from scoring a third goal. In the five minutes injury time period, Bukayo Saka put a weak ball into the Fulham goal, in which Bernd Leno found it a simple task in merely falling onto the ball. We came forward, won two corners in succession that went absolutely nowhere, and after some more nondescript play, referee Josh Smith brought matters on this miserable New Year’s Eve to a close.
Of the three Premiership matches that we have played since 23rd December, we have attained just one point out of a possible nine, which is nowhere near acceptable for a team that has lofty ambitions to pick up their first Premiership title since 2004. What on earth has gone wrong? We lost the midfield battle early on, and the spark that we have seen in earlier matches this season was missing. The team look as if they have lost self-belief and confidence, and this is neither the time nor the place to do such a thing. Every team has a dip in a season, and perhaps this could be the wake-up call that we desperately need. The next Premiership match is against Crystal Palace on 20th January at the Emirates, so let’s hope that they can sort themselves out by then. Happy New Year everyone.
Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: Liverpool at the Emirates on Sunday, 7th January at 4.30pm (FA Cup). Be there, if you can. Victoria Concordia Crescit.
Steve
Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 