Were Arsenal excellent or were Fulham that bad?

We’re firmly in the home stretch now, but Arsenal seemingly entered their worst period of form prior to it. April was a disaster for the club, but gained some semblance of normality towards the end. A win over Newcastle proved very important, but also a draw away to Atletico Madrid gives Arsenal the advantage ahead of Tuesday’s second leg. But, the Premier League still requires a huge amount of attention and it was Fulham on our doorstep.

First Half

Arsenal began the match very well, having the games first shot within three minutes. After some slick build up play, Leandro Trossard tried to angle a shot into the bottom corner, but the ball flashed wide. Arsenal sustained the pressure and were rewarded with a free kick eight minutes in. It was taken short and eventually sprayed out towards Bukayo Saka who left Raul Jimenez on the floor with some neat footwork. The English winger spotted Viktor Gyokeres moving into position across the face of goal, and he was expertly found. The Swedish striker simply had to guide it into the open net. The Gunners weren’t resting on their laurels this weekend, as they sat on a nervy 1-0 lead over Newcastle for over 80 minutes last time out. Trossard had another attempt sail wide of the post, but the intent remained. Fulham could barely escape their half as Arsenal kept probing. Gabriel had the next opportunity. Bernd Leno attempted to claim a corner, but fumbled it against the Brazilian and it resulted in a crowd of bodies swinging legs to get the ball clear. It was another warning sign, but Fulham didn’t listen. Declan Rice spotted Saka’s run in behind and picked him out perfectly. Saka guided the ball back across the face of goal which saw a couple of Arsenal players take a bite. The ball could only be cleared a little so Arsenal sent in another cross. Riccardo Calafiori rose the highest and arrowed a header past Leno. However, he was clearly offside and the goal was ruled out. Fulham eventually started to explore outside of their half, but there was no cohesion in their attack. Mikel Arteta’s men dealt with things comfortably. Marco Silva’s men were put under pressure once again as Trossard lined up another effort, however, his effort lacked power and was easily gathered by Leno. The North London side needed a second goal for cushion and that eventually arrived, in a timely manner. Gyokeres was sent into the right channel after a long ball forward. After picking up possession, he had two Fulham defenders for company. Saka was in support, but suddenly noticed a small gap between the two defenders. Gyokeres noticed it too and sent him through on goal. Saka rifled a shot towards the front post that Leno just couldn’t reach. 2-0. The Gunners were looking to finish the half with strength and came agonisingly close to adding a third. After more excellent build up play, William Saliba floated a cross towards the back post where Gabriel was moving towards. However, he couldn’t make contact with the ball and chance went begging. But, Arsenal did get their third and with effectively the last kick, should I say head, of the half. Trossard was sent on his travels up the left channel before holding up the play to allow Gyokeres to make his run into the box. The Belgian stood up the cross perfectly, allowing Viktor to arch his header beyond Leno. 3-0, half time.

Second Half

Inevitably, the Gunners came out with less urgency. Saka was withdrawn and the game felt like it had entered the stage of resting players where we could. This resulted in Fulham receiving more time on the ball. Jimenez tried a speculative effort from range, but the ball swerved wide. The Cottagers’ then had a corner that Timothy Castagne flashed across the face of goal, with his head. Despite Fulham’s efforts, Arsenal had the best chance of the second half. Viktor Gyokeres was played through on goal, he attempted to open up his body and curl one around Leno, but the German saved well. It took until the 72nd minute for Raya to make a save. It was Castagne again who struck a fierce effort straight at Raya. Either side of the Spaniard and it was likely a goal. Emile Smith-Rowe then found himself with some space in the box, but he could only find the side netting. Even though Arsenal were scaling back their offensive duties, Calafiori came extremely close to adding a fourth. The Italian met a corner with his head and angled it down towards the goal. Knowing very little about it, Leno’s head came to his rescue and it deflected the ball onto the crossbar. Max Dowman then tried to change the score line again, but his surging run resulted in an off target attempt. That was largely it in terms of chances and the game finished 3-0 to Arsenal.

Statistics

The statistics prove that Arsenal were the overwhelmingly better side here. Arteta’s men had 18 shots with 9 on target. This generated a huge xG of 3.23 with 6 big chances created. Fulham did have a respectable 10 shots, but only 1 on target. This created an xG of 0.37 with 0 big chances.

Player Ratings

Starting XI

Raya – 7 – He didn’t have much to do outside of one save, but was a perfect sweeper keeper.

White – 6 – The weak link in that first half. I hate to say it because it was such a positive afternoon, but some of his play put us in trouble. Careless in his passing a few times. However, he did link up with Eberechi Eze, Rice and Saka quite well.

Saliba – 9 – He is just so consistent and his standard is incredibly high. There’s obvious talk about Rice getting the Player of the Season award if Arsenal win the league, but I think Saliba has been more consistent. Another dominant display and he’s taking more responsibility in how we build our attacks.

Gabriel – 8 – Dominant, like Gabriel, but not as confident in possession. He didn’t make any mistakes, but he was quite safe where Saliba was more experimental.

Calafiori – 8 – I’ve really missed Calafiori in a starting role. It’s no surprise that the last time he started, was the last time we scored more than one goal in a match. He’s such a maverick, but also possesses excellent defensive qualities. He was unlucky not to score.

Rice – 9 – Whether he’s better or not, the team is so much more fluid when he sits at the base. He broke up so many potential Fulham attacks and gave them no change. What I liked was his tendency to float towards the right side of the pitch and link up with Saka. It created a number of chances. I’m glad he got the rest as well.

Lewis-Skelly – 8 – When fans have been crying out for you to play midfield ever since you broke into the team, and then drop that performance, you’ve repaid their faith. I thought the occasion would get to him or he’d look lost, but he looked so settled. Not everything came off and perhaps he wasn’t as sharp as he would be with consistent minutes, but he was excellent. Great positioning, brave on the ball, recycled possession and even surged forward a few times. Next season could see him move to central midfield permanently.

Eze – 7 – Not as his dazzling best in this one, but still effective. His decision to send Gyokeres down the channel forced our second goal to happen. Eze has that bit in his brain that tells him to just act on impulse and it normally ends up with something good happening.

Saka – 10 (MOTM) – 45 minutes was all he needed to win Arsenal this game and get the team fully back on track. He left Jimenez for dead in the build up for the first goal and then expertly fired us two goals ahead. He was just a constant thorn in Fulham’s side and they couldn’t handle him. He was also able to get that extra bit of rest ready for Atletico.

Gyokeres – 9.5 – If he scored that goal in the second half to bring in that hat-trick, he would’ve got my MOTM, but take nothing away from that first half performance. Perhaps the best 45 minutes we’ve seen from one of our striker’s this season. His two goals are exactly what we need from him and it shows that service = goals. The assist was also brilliant. The way he ran the channel, composed himself and assessed his options before playing a disguised pass for Saka, fantastic.

Trossard – 9 – Saka and Gyokeres will get the headlines, but Trossard had his best game for a long time. His shooting was little off, but the intent was there. His all round play is what impressed me most. Fulham couldn’t get near him and it seemed like his tricky feet were back. One excellent cross for Gyokeres’ goal, he also assisted Calafiori’s goal which was ruled out for offside.

Substitutes

Madueke – 7 – He saw a lot of the ball in the second half and proved to be a good outlet. He worked hard and created some half chances. However, the quality drop off between him and Saka was noticeable. It’s not Madueke’s fault, but he just couldn’t keep the intensity going.

Zubimendi – 7 – I thought he played pretty well when he came on. He sat higher, which saw Lewis-Skelly fall into Rice’s role. The Spaniard broke up play and helped sustain our attacks, what we needed to help close the game out without conceding.

Jesus – 4 – Offside about three times after his introduction, which kind of summed up his performance. He was either too eager, or too slow off the mark. On the whole, ineffective.

Dowman – 6 – Tried to add to his special moments this season, but couldn’t quite deliver what he wanted to. We looked better in attack after his introduction, but neglected a couple of obvious chance creating passes.

Mosquera – N/A

Summary

That was exactly what we needed. A huge first half performance that would’ve restored some belief in the team and the fans. This is a special group of players, but the last month has been difficult on them. If they can use this as a springboard for genuine success then this was perhaps one of our most important results this season. It’s not like Fulham had nothing to play for, we just outplayed them in every department. Key players also got some rest ahead of Atletico Madrid on Tuesday. This group deserves something and I do think they’ll get one of the remaining two trophies over the line. If we can beat Atletico and set ourselves up with a Champions League final then that will give the boys that extra inspiration. We then have a couple of extra days of rest before West Ham next Sunday. We then have a week’s break for Burnley and then another week for Crystal Palace. Manchester City still have five Premier League fixtures and an FA Cup final to play between Monday 4th May and Sunday 24th May. That’s six fixtures in 20 days, do the math on that, compared to our four fixtures in 19 days.

Arsenal vs Atletico Madrid Predicted Lineup

We don’t know if Martin Odegaard or Kai Havertz will be available for this one, as they’re both reportedly pushing to be fit. However, I think they’ll only make the bench anyway. I’m assuming Jurrien Timber won’t be available either, but he wouldn’t start. The three changes, from the Fulham game, I can see happening are Cristian Mosquera for Ben White, Piero Hincapie for Calafiori and Gabriel Martinelli for Trossard. We have to be careful with Calafiori, besides Hincapie locked up that left side pretty well on Wednesday. Mosquera played barely any minutes on Wednesday and against Fulham, so his fresh legs could be helpful here. Another fresh leg change, Martinelli for Trossard. Saka to bring his quality again, Eze for the bravery in the middle, Gyokeres while his confidence is up, Rice in his new role as well as Zubimendi in his. Saliba, Gabriel and Raya need no explanation. Despite Atletico’s chances, I saw what kind of control Arsenal can exert over them. We need to watch out for Julian Alvarez and Antoine Griezmann, but beyond that I’m not worried. Let’s get it!