1-0 to the Arsenal as Fulham wilt again

Trossard scores at the Cottage to inflict third straight loss on Silva's men

Could this be the year Arsenal lift the Premier League? With the calibre of player Arteta has lavished across their squad, the team have a very good chance of returning the Premier League to North London, exemplified in the graft of building points through tight victories away from home - another week atop the table is a small reward for their 1-0 victory at the Cottage tonight. Fulham can only dream of such heights - the international break has not suspended our losing form, and a third straight defeat leaves us sore at the hands of a quality opponent.

First Half

I don’t think there was any doubt Arsenal were going to hold a lot of the ball today. At the moment they’re one of the in-form sides in the country, motivated by a run of wins and eager to make the most of Liverpool’s dip in form. They sought to control our half with the ball, Zubimendi sat in front of Timber and the centre-backs, Rice patrolling the midfield, Calafiori moving around Trossard as a de-facto LM and forwards putting our defenders in their sights.

It was a game we needed to start sharply, and to the defence’s credit there was good discipline across the half. Excluding a tight offside, where Timber’s long cross-field ball to Trossard was cutback and smacked into the top corner by Calafiori, and a smart save from Leno, brought about by Saka bursting away from Iwobi and threading a ball into the box for Gyokeres to latch onto, Arsenal were denied any space in the box, smothered by tight man-marking and good positional awareness. Whilst it was undoubtedly a nervy watch, you get the sense there were players relishing the atmosphere - Cuenca, eager to impress after ousting Bassey from the team, was alert to the balls pumped into the box, Sessegnon came out strongly in his duels against Saka on our left and Andersen put himself at the heart of the action, using his defensive acumen to put himself between goal and ball.

Arsenal were given a real contest in the half. They clearly had the physical advantage, wrestling our forwards off the ball and covering more ground than Cairney and Berge could manage in the midfield. Yet our defensive rigour held firm, even as our players started picking up injuries. Despite Andersen trudging off for Diop, the visitors couldn’t break the deadlock, despite a slight (but understandable) wobble towards the end of stoppage time and Rice whipping a fierce shot just wide of goal.

Indeed, it might have been Fulham that struck the first blow. Hints of an eagerness to take the game to Arsenal were seen from the start, where pretty combinations between Iwobi, Sess and King took Fulham flying down our left flank. Predictably, Saka’s quality kept Sess defensively-focused and less involved in attacks, meaning our attacks were funneled down the right instead. This wasn’t terrible news - with Calafiori so advanced, some sharp pressing could put pressure on Zubimendi and Gabriel around the left. It let us pinch the ball off Arsenal and allow the pair to work swiftly and taking Fulham forward on the break.

We made some good chances, too. King created a nice opportunity for Jimenez that Raya had to push wide, from the resulting corner Zubimendi was needed to block Cairney’s volley and King had a couple of chances that also needed blocking - one a bizarre cross-like effort that Raya had to tip away from goal. It is Wilson though who will sadly rue his inaccuracy in the half - a smattering of tricky dribbles and peeling off defenders were not matched by his finishing, which saw him knock two good opportunities wide. Not for the first time, the chance to put distance between us and a competent opponent sailed away.

Second Half

0-0 at the break then, and with Fulham on the back foot by the end of the first half Arsenal smelt blood. Certainly Saka did, taking no time at all to win a freekick from Sessegnon and remind us of the nature of our opposition. Though the set-piece was cleared, the effect it had was significant - our whole team were dotted around our own final third, struggling to find mobility and fluidity, and Arsenal had the momentum from the offset.

Ominous signs might have been picked up when Eze floated past a wheezing Cairney in midfield, curling a ball into the box - whilst the cross was tame, the defending was tamer, Castagne letting the ball bounce in front of him to an unmarked Trossard. The right-back was fortunate his compatriot dragged his effort wide. He had the chance to atone for his mistake a moment later - Saka burst past Sessegnon on the right, driving into the box with menace, and played a pass under Cuenca into the centre. But for the Belgian’s hasty clearance, Berge would have turned the ball into his own net.

Arsenal were flooding forward and regularly penetrating our box now. Saka was the diamond, one highlight coming from an overhit Calafiori cross, where the winger plucked the ball out of the air with an exquisite touch and won a corner with Iwobi and Sess breathing down his neck. Our opponent’s sharp passing and dominant presence around our box was liberating their attackers, crucially feeding the ball to Gyokeres in the box - through balls from Timber and Eze broke the line and needed Cuenca to prevent the Swede striking at goal, tackling the ball out for a corner.

Yet this has been Arsenal’s forte, and Fulham’s resolve was starting to crumble. Saka swung his cross in, Gabriel leapt highest to flick the ball across the box, and Trossard only had to lift his knee to direct the ball into the half. It was a horrible piece of defending from Cairney, prone on the spot and oblivious to the danger around him, and once again shattered an hour of hard work with an avoidable error. A sorry end to the captain’s evening too - he was withdrawn moments afterwards, likely still reeling from an injury picked up in the first half, but certainly blown out of the game by Arsenal’s relentless pressure.

Changes were afoot, with Fulham adding attacking impetus in Smith-Rowe and Kevin to the game. But Arteta, perhaps anticipating such a move, steeled his own side in preparation - Eze departed for the towering figure of Merino and Calafiori moved back into a conventional LB role, giving Arsenal steel and grit to brace for Fulham’s offensive response.

One wonders if they needed to bother. King was certainly knocked around by Arsenal’s defenders but he was the one player taking the ball forward dangerously, the architect of Fulham’s few offensive moves in the second half. With Kevin hugging the wing and Smith-Rowe struggling to kick into gear Fulham entered a tepid phase of play, moving the ball timidly around Arsenal’s fortified defence and failing to breathe in the box without a defender booting the ball away. Wilson faded from the game without King to link up with and Berge struggled to move the ball forward altogether. Indeed, Arsenal were still the more formidable attackers - Saka needed but a few touches to make his own inroads, breezing through a depleted midfield and confidently pinging the ball around defenders.

Crucially though Arsenal were eating away the game’s available time. For all the talk of physical improvements Arsenal have still retained their status as players of the beautiful game - Zubimendi came into his own in this phase of the game, moving the ball smartly and starving Fulham of the possession they needed to turn things around. Silva made two more changes, Wilson and Cuenca off for Traore and Bassey, but it had little effect. Calafiori was content to let Traore dribble around aimlessly on the right wing, and with Smith-Rowe completely removed from the final third our attacks were funneled into errant runs from Kevin and Jimenez, detached from the gameplan and easily dealt with. With Fulham throwing men forward it was Arsenal that had the closer chances in the closing stages. Substitute Martinelli had a speculative overhead kick, and Leno was forced to make a smart double save from Gyokeres and the aforementioned Brazilian, architected again by the magnificent Saka. He ended the game as he started it - the best player on the pitch, and integral to yet another Arsenal win.

Arsenal for the title?

We should really talk about Arsenal first - Arteta has crafted a very good side, and for all the humour that is had at their expense they’re looking a fine side in the opening weeks of the league season. A keen observer might point to the fact they’ve been here before - be it Wenger, Emery or Arteta, Arsenal have often been the belle of the ball before imploding later in the campaign - but there’s a resolve that makes this Arsenal team stand out more.

Fulham’s troubles will be discussed shortly, but it’s a testament to Arsenal’s defending that we didn’t challenge Raya - or have a real shot on target, if we exclude speculative Traore efforts - all match. Their defence is superlative - even on a night where Gabriel made a few mistakes, the talent of each individual in the backline is amongst the world’s best, and enough to make a formidable contest for any forward. It’s a far cry from Arsenal’s weakness in the past, where pretty football was betrayed by clumsy errors, and forces opponents to dig deep to even sniff near the box. With such intelligent midfielders manning the territory in front of them, attackers have to work even harder to enter the final third - it says a lot that Fulham, after a few flashes of excitement in the first half, were subdued and beaten out of the game for a large phase of the action. This is what elite midfielders like Rice and Zubimendi enable, and why Arteta has spent so much crafting this unit for his team. On a day where Arsenal didn’t perform their most beautiful attacking symphonies, such resolute, consistent defending allows them to make their slender lead a strong one, and win the game.

You then arrive at Bukayo Saka, the star of the show. It’s remarkable how present he was across the game today - he ran Sessegnon into the ground, battling away and eventually overcoming the deputy left-back, he was popping up in the centre on breakaways, he was the creator to several marauding runs into the box and was critical to delivering a set-piece good enough to unlock an erstwhile unbeaten defence. When you have attackers like that, you can endure a quieter game for Trossard or Eze, or an unclinical set of finishes from Gyokeres. He built a killer partnership with Timber down the right, just like he did with White, and I don’t think there’s too much shame in being bested by someone like him - he’s one of the best footballers in the country.

Trouble at the Cottage

However, Fulham still lost the game, both the third defeat in a row and the third second-half capitulation in a row. I’d imagine many went into the game feeling Arsenal would be too good for us, but there’s a sullen feeling in watching yet another game show signs of promise before devolving into a comfortable march to victory for an opponent. Unlike the debacles at Villa and Bournemouth, a single goal margin stood between us and parity - yet Fulham were spinning their wheels in the mud, stuck in the doldrums whilst time ebbed away.

It feels wrong to ignore the growing injury problems. The backline that played the majority of the game today - Sess, Cuenca, Diop and Castagne - is entirely staffed by second-choice players, with Andersen forced off injured and Bassey coming off a horrible run of form. Cairney was already deputising for Lukic and had to leave the game himself. Muniz should be leading a vibrant young Fulham attack, but is out of action for weeks, with Jimenez only just returning from a layoff himself. Chukwueze, a flash of hope in recent defeats, also couldn’t make the squad today after his international exertions. This undoubtedly has an impact on the club - Silva has troops nursing wounds, and in a competitive league this can prove the difference in tight matches like this, particularly against a side like Arsenal.

But the problems feel a little more serious. Naturally the mood will be low for us in the midst of a run of defeats, the like we haven’t really suffered at this stage of a campaign under Silva, but there’s something that feels a lot worse with this run of games. After some early season comebacks we’ve looked rudderless the second an opponent strikes their goals past us - today the team slumped entirely, barely able to muster a cogent attack. Jimenez worked tirelessly all game but it’s absurd to me that in stoppage time, with minutes left in the game, he’d be the only player in the box needing only a goal. The confidence seems to have left Smith-Rowe and Traore, making them ineffective substitutes at the best of times, whilst Kevin’s promise seems detached from the events actually happening on the pitch. King doesn’t seem to get the minutes to be active in these critical later stages, which might have to change as he’s been one of the few players performing above the expected standard. Sess and Iwobi might also have helped, but given the injury problems they’ve had to be stationed deeper and can’t unleash their best contributions in attack.

On the topic of defence, it’s alarming to me that we’re in a situation with no first-choice players in the backline. Sess did admirably today, and has done for several weeks, but is not a LB, even if he’s deputised very well - whilst I think Saka has the beating of many fullbacks in the league at the moment, his composure was gone by the end of the game. This is a theme for Cuenca too - a good start today but looked at sea towards the end, and had to be swapped out for Bassey. Diop always works hard but doesn’t have the quality on the ball to be a central figure in the game - Andersen’s distribution was sorely missed in this game. As for Castagne, it’s well-documented that he doesn’t have the physicality or fine-tuning to man the flanks for us - he might consider himself fortunate Saka plays on the right and not the left. We would have lost by far more today if not for Leno, who seemed determined to put on a show against his former employers - some excellent saves masked how badly Arsenal had broken us by the end.

Where do we go from here? There’s part of me that believes things will correct themselves - we’re still early into the season, the injuries will clear up, players will return to form and a few “winnable” fixtures are approaching us in the calendar, not to mention a favourable round of 16 game against Wycombe. Silva’s record has been good enough to justify placing faith in him to stop the run of defeats, even as early as the next match in Newcastle.

But that’s part of the problem - Silva’s record is so good because we haven’t been in a situation like this before, where our form deserts us early and we slide towards the bottom of the table. With the promoted sides looking competent and capable, the security we’ve been afforded by distance from the relegation zone isn’t there either. Combine all these factors - form, injuries, a stronger league, even silly things like the bizarre transfers or the fact a registered striker sits unused two months into the campaign, and a few worries are starting to creep into my mind. The only thing that will really dispel it is seeing Fulham win a game of football again.