Arsenal's Premier League title hopes were dealt another huge blow as they fell to a second successive defeat at the hands of Fulham to close out 2023.
The Gunners took a fifth-minute lead in another London derby at Craven Cottage on New Year's Eve through Bukayo Saka as they looked to bounce back from Thursday's surprise home loss to West Ham and secure the win that would see them enter 2024 back on top of the Premier League table, with victories for Aston Villa and Manchester City on Saturday having seen them slip down to fourth place in a congested title race before kick-off.
But with leaders Liverpool not in action until hosting Newcastle on Monday night, flat Arsenal could not take advantage or sustain any sort of momentum in arguably their worst performance of the campaign so far as Raul Jimenez deservedly fired Fulham level before the 30-minute mark and Bobby De Cordova-Reid then blasted in the winner just shy of the hour after the visitors could not clear their lines from a corner.
A second consecutive loss means that Arsenal have now won just one of their last five league games to finish the calendar year, with a heavyweight FA Cup third-round tie against Liverpool next weekend followed by their winter break.
Mikel Arteta's side do not play in the league again now until hosting Crystal Palace in another all-capital clash at the Emirates Stadium on January 20, and they could be out of the top four altogether by then with north London rivals Tottenham now just a point behind in fifth after beating in-form Bournemouth 3-1 on Sunday.
For Fulham, who also hit the crossbar through Andreas Pereira's late free-kick and looked by far the more likely team to score again as time ticked away in the torrential rain and gusty winds, it was a welcome return to form after a dire sequence of three consecutive league losses without scoring, with the returns of Jimenez and former Arsenal winger Willian from suspension and injury respectively providing a crucial attacking boost.
They had not previously beaten Arsenal in any competition since 2012 and had a terrible recent record against them, but can now look forward to the New Year with increased optimism with a two-legged Carabao Cup semi-final tie against Liverpool to come in January, either side of a west London derby showdown with Chelsea.
