And here’s Jonathan Wilson’s match report.
Which means we’re done here. Do join Rob for Spurs v Chelsea, and otherwise, peace out.
And a little primer for that:
We’re 10 minutes away from kick-off at Tottenham. Join Rob Smyth for the build-up.
“We’ve had VAR for tight offsides for a while now, and you’d think that players would have trained themselves to think that being ‘level’ might be called offside by now,” says Andy Flintoff. “Martinelli had no reason to be there – he could have been six inches closer to his own goal and still run on to the ball and made the assist for Saka. Or am I crediting players with more intelligence than they have?”
Never underestimate footballers’ football intelligence, I reckon. It was, I agree, a massive error, but not one it’s impossible to grasp being made: he’s just desperate to get away because he knows the opportunity is there.
It’s the way they tell ’em. Manchester United Football Club, what a card.
Updated
Ah man, this is dreadful news but also brilliant news. Godspeed, old mate.
“The argument that Arsenal are more than a one trick pony team would be more convincing if they were scoring more goals from open play,” returns Rick Harris. “What is also surprising is how their opponents seem bereft of ideas on how to stop five blokes running towards the near post from beyond the far post. Why not put five blokes in a wall in front of them?”
I guess that risks a foul for obstruction; I think what might work is two or three defenders given carte blanche to attack the ball, because at the moment lots are getting caught underneath it waiting to see who they should mark.
“It seems to me that a better solution to the red card problem would be to allow the player red carded to be replaced by a substitute, the player sent off then being suspended in the usual way,” suggests David Paradine. “At the moment the red card is a double punishment in that not only is a player sent off but the rest of the team is punished as well for what is after all the sins of one player.”
Team game innit.
Updated
Odegaard tells Sky that his team weren’t great in the first half, sloppy on the ball and lacking energy and power. But they dominated most of the game so it’s frustrating not to have won. Though he thinks Fulham defended well, he acknowledges that Arsenal need to do better next game.
“No team is winning a title with Martinelli or Trossard at left wing. They’re good. Sometimes great players. But not good enough to make us the 90+ point side you have to be to win the title.”
I wouldn’t pinpoint the left as necessarily the issue – Havertz is also a good player, but a title-winning centre-forward? I’m less sure, and I also don’t think the balance in midfield is quite right. Which is to say I agree with the broad point: Arsenal don’t have enough quite enough attacking quality.
Sky are trying to amp up the controversial aspect, but Saka’s goal was disallowed because Martinelli was offside – it was close, but it wasn’t so close we can’t be certain the call was correct and necessary. I’d much prefer not to have VAR because I don’t like compromising the greatest feeling known to humanity, but in this instance, it worked as it’s meant to.
Live for you now:
Elsewhere, Bournemouth have come from behind to beat Ipswich, while two late goals have given Leicester a 2-2 draw with Brighton.
That’s a hugely damaging result for Arsenal, who miss the chance to put pressure on Liverpool. Instead, Arne Slot’s men inch closer to the title without having played, and it’ll take a pretty significant collapse along with a pretty significant run for them to lose it from here.
FULL TIME: Fulham 1-1 Arsenal
Arsenal close the gap on Liverpool to six points but have played a game more; Fulham stay 10th.
90+7 min Saka brings the ball down but Iwobi is on his touch, Berge then brings the ball away, and Rice brings him down; he’s booked. There’s then a bit of afters with Pereira, but back to Berge, he’s played very well today.
90+5 min We’ll have more than the allotted five minutes because of the VAR check, but as I type, Saka picks out Leno with a cross and that might their last chance to snaffle a win. Fulham have been excellent.
90+5 min Arsenal’s failure to beat Fulham last season is one of the reasons they failed to win the league. This looks like being another extremely damaging result for Artetz and his men.
90+3 min This time, Rice goes for goal, I’ve no idea why, and he sends the ball well beyond the top corner he has no history of hitting.
90+3 min Martinelli has made a difference since coming on and he wins a free-kick deep inside the Fulham half; Rice is on it, and here we go…
90+1 min Change for Fulham: Lukic off, Cuenca on.
90 min We’ll have five additional minutes.
NO GOAL! Fulham 1-1 Arsenal
Yup, Martinelli went fractionally early, and he will not sleep well tonight.
But again, VAR wants a look!
Was Martinelli offside when he received the ball? He might’ve been, you know, and waiting for it, looking along the line, he’s no reason to be. None whatsoever.
GOAL! Fulham 1-2 Arsenal (Saka 88)
Cometh the minute, cometh the boy! A ball out to Martinelli, he curls gorgeously to the back post, and Saka heads down, through Leno’s legs, and in!
Updated
88 min Iwobi sticks a ball down the left and Robinson charges after it, no chance of getting it but he stops arsenal building.
87 min So far, Arsenal have’t been able to get Nwaneri on the ball.
86 min Robinson is impetuous when charging up to Saka, apparently knocking him down – I’m not certain there was contact – but this time, Rice’s free-kick sails past the back post.
85 min Martinelli squares up Wilson but his ball in is seized by Leno. For 10 minutes after the goal, Arsenal looked like they might score again, but since then, they’ve created little.
83 min “How would the red-card ban work if there’s a transfer?” asks Dan Naylor. “There’s almost always a transfer window in between when teams play each other. Does the buying team get a discount if the player they are buying has multiple suspensions he has to pay off next season? What if the team that was victimised by the bad tackle buys that player? Is the red card absolved?”
Discounts are a matter for the clubs; The red card is never absolved, it’s just a ban in the first available game. I’m not, though, sure what happens in the second half of the season I’ll have a think.
Updated
82 min Martinelli is booked for mouth.
82 min Brighton lead 2-0 at Leicester, Minteh adding to Lamptey’s first-half goal.
81 min Merino tugs back Pereira and does well to avoid a card. Fulham look a threat on the counter now, or at least more so than earlier in the game.
79 min Fulham also make a change, Muniz on for Jimenez, their goalscorer. How affirming it is to see him a) on the pitch, b) enjoying his football and c) affecting games.
79 min I was just about to wonder when we’d see Nwaneri and here he is, replacing Odegaard. It won’t be long before he’s too good to omit.
77 min “Aren’t Arsenal fans a bit disappointed being a set-piece side?” asks Ian Copestake. That is meant to be for sides that can’t play football very well.”
I’m afraid couldn’t agree with this less. It’s not one or t’other, and the reason they get so many corners is because they force them; the reason they score so many is the quality of delivery and intensity with which they attack the ball.
76 min Martinelli finds Rice and he curls a lovely ball over the top and Jesus is in behind waiting! I think it holds up in the wind – it’s a right nasty day in London – but even so, Jesus should do better than smash fresh air into the top corner.
74 min Double change for Arsenal, Merino and Jesus on for Havertz and Jorginho.
74 min On which point, if a player gets a red card, how about suspending them for the next time the teams meet?
73 min Bassey fouls Havertz and is booked, meaning he’ll miss next weekend’s trip to Anfield. What a boon for Arsenal!
71 min Suddenly Arsenal welease Peweiwa, Berge curling beautifully into his path. And he gets away from the chasing men but, with no one alongside, he can only shoot from left of centre, seeking to sneak inside the near post as Raya goes down; the ball goes wide.
70 min …and he picks up Partey on the edge of the six-yard box as the various defenders run past him. Ye’ve gottae score! But instead he mistimes his leap and heads wide! Fulham just cannot deal with these corners!
69 min Martinelli gets a little space out wide but Wilson doubles up with Tete, conceding a corner. Rice will take…
68 min And when the ball is sent into the box, Rice does a good job of hacking away the second ball.
67 min Fulham win a free-kick on halfway following a gorgeous switch from Jimenez to Iwobi, who’s fouled by Partey. They’ll take their time over this, I shouldn’t wonder.
66 min Rice over the top for Havertz but, like Smith Rowe earlier, a poor first touch prevents him from getting in on goal.
64 min Lovely touch from Timber to earn space in midfield and though he then botches a pass to put Martinelli in behind, he’s a lovely footballer becoming increasingly influential as an attacking outlet.
62 min Arsenal are getting Odegaard on the ball much more often now. Fulham need to get men around him because he’s the man who makes his team tick.
60 min Arsenal send on Martinelli for Trossard, while Fulham try Pereira for Smith Rowe and Wilson for Traore.
59 min Another set-piece won by Arsenal, this time a free-kick which Odegaard pumps into the box … and the ball ends up going behind for a goalkick. Fulham can’t get out and, unlike before half-time, they look likely to concede.
57 min Arsenal are at it now, Timber driving over halfway and finding Trossard, who dips inside Tete and shoots … straight at Leno.
56 min “This Arsenal-Stoke comparison is ridiculous,” reckons Tim Stappard, the Pro Evo version of my favourite playwright. “But Arsenal a la Bayern have been constructing a team of tall players for a while. I remember Alex Ferguson being impressed by Bayern’s sheer size. Bit like most sports, it helps to be taller.”
Yup, this has been a major change in the game over the last five years: all the big lads now have feet, so there more of them.
Updated
55 min “Set-piece again ole ole” sing the away end, and Arsenal have a bit more zip to them now.
It's a goal!
Robinson’s foot was beyond Saliba.
But VAR wants a look!
Was Saliba offside, or was Robinson playing him on? Havertz will be feeling nervous, because it shouldn’t even be relevant. I think it’s going to stand though…
GOAL! Fulham 1-1 Arsenal (Saliba 52)
Of course! Rice swings it in and Havertz should score, four yards out and umarked. But instead he heads back across, Saliba the goal-machine prods home, and we’re level!
Updated
52 min No matter: Arsenal force another corner, on the left.
52 min Rice’s delivery is again superb, but Partey can’t quite get a touch.
51 min Lukic fouls Ska and is booked; Rice will take the free-kick, 30 yards out, right-hand touchline.
50 min “Is it controversial to hate keepers for being too short?” wonders Ben Sherwood. “Raya, for example, gets praise for saves that would be routine for a taller keeper (such as against Manchester United) but can’t cover the full goal from a narrow angle like against Jimenez today.”
My childhood was blighted by Chris Turner – he was “acrobatic,” so we were told – and I later suffered Fabian Barthez, so I feel you. I agree the save in midweek was routine, but today, a taller keeper might’ve struggled to get down as quickly as Raya did so got even less close to saving Jimenez’s shot.
49 min Robinson blazes by Partey and crosses low, Raya doing well to grab the ball.
47 min This is a massive half for Arsenal – and, indeed, for Liverpool. A win for Arteta’s men and the gap at the top is a manageable four points; if it changes from seven points to seven points with a game in hand, it’ll be hard to see a way back into the race for the Gunners.
46 min We go again…
Half-time entertainment: a piece on one of the most beautiful and iconic goals of the 90s.
Arteta has some thinking to do. His team need to move the ball much quicker and perhaps look to switch the play so they can attack space before Fulham can shuffle across. They’ve created painfully little, and don’t look replete with ideas or cohesion.
HALF-TIME: Fulham 1-0 Arsenal
Arsenal dominated the ball, Fulham the goalscoring.
45 min We’ll have one additional minute.
45 min “As Dmitar Berbatov so eloquently pondered,” emails Rick Harris, “‘are Arsenal the new Stoke’?” Exchange Rory Delap’s long throws for Saka and Rice’s inswingers with a well-drilled posse of big guys running across the six-yard box from beyond the far post and I would say so. The big question for the Gunners is ‘What’s your plan B’? Fulham have stuck it to them. We await the response.”
As below, I think that’s harsh: Arsenal win corners as a reflection of their dominance.
42 min back to the corner thing, it’s worth noting that Arsenal forced 13 in midweek and have won four so far this afternoon. That reflects their territorial dominance in general play, so opponents might want to wonder how they stop that, as well as working out what to do when the ball is mixah’d.
40 min Arsenal are getting a bit better, again working the ball to Saka in space. This time, he comes inside and spins a delectable cross into the middle, narrowly defeating Rice’s desperate lunge.
38 min Again, Traore is involved in ruckus – he needs to be careful – but Fulham get the corner away.
37 min Traore gives it away in centrefield and Arsenal use the turnover to get the ball out to Saka, in space because of the transition. Consequently, it’s Bassey forced to go out to defend the danger, Saka nips across him even though it’s obvious what he’s going to try, and the eventuating low shot is well saved by Leno. At cost of another corner!
35 min “You’re absolutely right about Rice,” writes Felix Wood, who know how to get his email published. “He cannot turn with the ball. Arteta realised this quite quickly, Southgate did not, which is why with him as defensive midfield England were good defensively and good when attacking but not so good going from one to the other. All credit to him for the amount he’s improved – he no longer has to take a run-up before kicking the ball even five yards and he doesn’t panic when faced with having to use his left, but he’s absolutely not a top level midfielder. A very, very, very good midfielder but not top level.”
I do, though, think him getting good enough on the half-turn is an achievable goal – more so that his quality on the ball improving enough to make him a creative option further forward. I also agree that for England, he was a problem in the Euros and the best midfield might not include him.
34 min Eeeeeeesh! A long ball over the top and if Smith Rowe can control it, he’s in! He cannot control it, his touch taking him backwards, but that is a warning for Arsenal nevertheless: it should not take so little to put them in potential trouble.
Updated
32 min Which isn’t to ignore Fulham’s excellent defensive discipline and organisation – they’re pulling five men back, making them hard to pass through and also run around. Arsenal, I think, need to get Odegaard on the ball around the edge of the box, because he’s the player most likely to pick holes.
30 min Half an hour gone and the only chance Arsenal have created was Saliba’s early header. They managed similarly little in midweek before improving after the break, but excellent though the are, they do lack a bit of fluidity and class going forward.
27 min “Historical Materialism is hardly popular these days,” reckons Comrade Gary Naylor, “but how much does the prevalence of perfect pitches influence the emergence of so many ball-playing Englishmen? Smith-Rowe, Saka, Gibbs-White, Palmer etc have never known a mud patch since 3G became the norm (I think). I’m surprised pitches are so seldom mentioned in analysing football tactics development.”
Like most changes, there are various reasons – players are more skilful because they’re working harder on their skill, generally not on grass or 3G pitches; I also think Ronaldinho massively changed the game in the aspect; and technical play is the best route to success. From each according to their abilities, each according to their needs.
26 min Good work from Trossard, diddling Tete with a Cruyff turn and slinging a fine cross over to the back post … where Saka can only wave a foot at it, diverting the ball behind. The home crowd laugh.
24 min Timber inverts and makes space, finding Trossard on the left, and his first time pass, turns infield and in behind, sends Rice bullocking clear. And as the ball drops, he gets decent contact on a shot across goal, but it skips wide. That’s the difference, really: from a similar position, Jimenez delivered an expert’s precision, whereas Rice did well but not well enough.
Updated
24 min Elsewhere, Ipswich lead Bournemouth 1-0.
23 min Now Arsenal win a free-kick out on the right, but this time Saka flights straight at Leno, who gets rid.
22 min … and this time the delivery is fantastic, the ball spitting in and Leno doing really well to punch clear from on his line by the near post.
22 min Another Arsenal corner…
20 min Odegaard works it out to Saka but he’s forced backward.Then, when the ball comes back, Jorginho lifting over the top to find him in space for the first time today, his cross is kicked away by Bassey with Havertz on his heels.
19 min More Arsenal possession, but to little current avail.
17 min I think I’ve done Fulham a disservice: I began my description of the goal with Leno’s kick out, but he received the ball from a teammate, part of a move that involved 23 passes and every player bar Traore. Great stuff.
16 min For all their possession, so far, Arsenal have yet to penetrate – it’s been all in front of Fulham.
14 min And actually, it’s also a reflection of the wider world: living in it are more brilliant footballers than ever before, so obviously the league with the most money has the most of them.
12 min This is the thing with the Premier League: every side has players who can do you.
WHAT A GOAL! Fulham 1-0 Arsenal (Jiménez 11)
Fulham’s first attack, Leno pumping forward and Jimenez doing well to chest down. Quickly, the ball is transferred to Tete, who slides a perfectly curving pass in behind Kiwior, Jimenez intimating a run outside before dashing inside. Saliba, playing him onside, comes over to challenge but he’s too late, Jimenez drilling a glorious low finish into the only place he can score, the far side-netting. Brilliant behaviour all round by the home team.
Updated
10 min We see a replay of some proactive defending from Traore, who drags Slaliba out of play. He’ll need to be careful if that’s his plan, because not every official will tolerate that every time.
9 min …and this time it’s Saka who’ll take the kick, this time picking out Berge who heads away at the front post.
8 min Out to Saka and, with Robinson probably expecting him to come inside, he drags outside, crosses, and here comes another corner…
8 min The camera seems to have been stuck at the top of The Shard.
7 min “Not sure that being weak and slow are issues,” says David Penney of Jorginho; “he has a side of Rice.”
That’s definitely helpful, but it’s not enough I don’t think.
6 min Arsenal knock it about; Fulham have barely had a kick so far.
4 min On which point, I wonder if Rice, not good enough on the half-turn to be a top-level six and not good enough on the ball to be a top-level eight, has realised he needs to add value, so has made it his business to add set-piece delivery to his, er, arsenal. Good for him if so.
3 min And here we go, Iwobi concedes a corner and Rice is on it. The big men gather beyond the back post and the “Oooooh…!” begins in the away end. The delivery, of course, is exemplary and Saliba is up … but the ball glances off his head and wide of the far stick.
1 min Aaaand away we go!
Here come our teams…
No doubt breath and hooks are long since – respectively – bated and tentered, so let’s end the suspense: here my annual playlist of the year’s best Afrobeats and amapiano.
“Good to see Fulham getting decent coverage at last,” chunters Richard Hirst. “All the plaudits for ‘unexpected success’ are going to Forest, but Marco Silva has done and is doing a tremendous job in resurrecting the careers of several players. It would be wonderful to see Iwobi and Smith Rowe prosper this afternoon.”
Can’t argue with that, he’s doing a fantastic job. It’s almost as if Watford and Everton are competence hoovers and failure there tells us little about the competence of any manager.
Other things Fulham might try: getting Smith Rowe in and around Jorginho, who passes nicely but is weak and slow; stopping passes into Odegaard, without whom Arsenal do’t have much creativity in midfield.
Of course, this match isn’t all we’ve got for you:
Back to our preamble, how will Fulham defend Arsenal’s corners? Calvin Bassey looked a player at Rangers, has improved since then, and is exactly the kind of dominating presence likely to take responsibility for doing whatever is necessary to get the ball away. The height of Berge and Lukic will also be helpful, probably a further reason the latter has come into the side today.
Craven Cottage, by the way: what a football ground, and what a place in which to slake thirst prior to going in.
“Arsenal fans will feel at least a slight pull of the heartstrings to see the names of Emile Smith Rowe and Alex Iwobi on the opposition teamsheet,” writes Charles Antaki. “Lovely footballers and, seemingly, charming young men who didn’t quite make it; but, yes, the club was right to allow them to leave. Patchy form, injuries, and crucially, the emergence of reliably better players did for them. So may they prosper and flourish at Fulham, except between 2 o’clock and 3.30 today. Say 4 o’clock, just in case.”
Yes, agreed. Both good and fun players – had he stayed fit, perhaps things might’ve gone differently for Smith Rowe – and both capable of causing aggravation this afternoon.
Email! “Especially big shout out for Lukic amongst Fulham’s ex-Arsenal contingent,” chuckles Mammillaria Hahniana. “Respect.”
He just goes on and on.
Arsenal, meanwhile, will do a version of what they always do. Play will go through Martin Odegaard and they’ll aim to get Bukayo Saka on the ball as often as possible. His battle with the excellent Antonee Robinson should be a lot of fun to watch.
So where is the game for Fulham? My sense is they’ll try and block up the middle with Berge and Lukic, rely on their centre-backs to defend the box properly, and look to get the ball wide quickly when in possession.
Of course, that’s not the size of it with Arsenal. They’re already without Gabriel, Riccardo Calafiori and Benjamin White, news which won’t have escaped Marco Silva. In midweek, Manchester United’s failure to target Zinchenko, not the world’s greatest defender, was odd in the extreme, but it seems inconceivable that whichever of Iwobi and Traoré plays on the left won’t be ordered to go after Partey, no kind of right-back. And it’s also likely that Jiménez will target Kiwior, with Lukic brought in to the stiffen the midfield, partly because of Arsneal’s attacking prowess but partly to allow their gamechangers the freedom to play.
Updated
As for Arsenal, they’re without the injured Zinchenko, so Thomas Partey moves to full-back with Jorginho coming into midfield, while in attack, it’s Leandro Trossard not Gabriel Martinelli.
Marco Silva makes four changes to the side which beat Brighton. Out go Castagne, Wilson and Muniz, who are on the bench, with Kenny Tete, Sasa lukic and Raúl Jiménez coming in; also missing is Reiss Nelson, injured, but unable to play against is parent club in any case, and his spot goes to Adam Traoré.
Ah, not quite yet – Artetz speaks. He says Zinchenko is injured but his players have to adapt as is necessary during a season and he’s sure they’ll be fine. He knows Fulham have good attackers, but he knows if you play in England there’ll be weather, you just have to make the most out whatever you’re served.
He’s sure his team will get closer to the leaders but they have to earn the right to win here, against a side with a good manager who are talented and consistent.
I’ll write these down, then we’ll have a think about what they mean.
Let's have some teams...
Fulham (4-2-3-1): Leno; Tete, Diop, Bassey, Robinson; Berge, Lukic; Adama, Smith Rowe, Iwobi; Jiménez. Subs: Benda, Castagne, Cuenca, Sessegnon, Andreas, King, Godo, Wilson, Muniz.
Arsenal (4-3-3-): Raya; Partey, Saliba, Kiwior, Timber; Jorginho, Rice, Odegaard; Saka, Havertz, Trossard. Subs: Neto, Tierney, Heaven, Lewis-Skelly, Merino, Sterling, Jesus, Martinelli, Nwaneri.
Referee: Chris Kavanagh (Manchester)
Preamble
We must’ve all sat there watching our teams, doing our nuts, as yet another corner hits the first man, then another sails beyond the back post. How hard can it be, we wonder, for professionals, especially those at the elite level, to practise hard enough to get good enough?
Well, Arsenal are the answer, and though we’ve no idea how much work has gone into honing their prowess, we’ve every idea that it was possible and has been for as long as this game has existed. Of course, it’s nothing new: George Graham’s champions in 1988-89 and 1990-91 were masters of the near-post delivery, almost impossible to defend when executed well. But Mikel Arteta’s side are a more versatile concoction such that corners for his side are now an occasion: everyone knows that something is coming, but no one save his players know exactly what– and even then…
Or, put another way, set-piece proficiency is not cheating, nor is it ugly, workmanlike or shameful. Every side should be great at them, those who aren’t are negligent, and to see things done properly and creatively, with physicality and intimidation, is a kind of beauty. It really is that simple.
Given that is not all Arsenal do and given the form they’re in, Fulham have a problem this afternoon. But save an accident at home to Wolves they’re in pretty decent nick too, eighth in the table with scope to go higher with their last five games featuring victories over Brentford, Palace and Brighton along with a draw at Spurs. They won’t be scared of Arsenal and, in Emile Smith Rowe, boast an enterprising young player desperate to show his former club what they’re missing. This is going to be good.
Kick-off: 2pm GMT
