Player Ratings: Arsenal 2-1 Fulham

George Rossiter returns to assess the performances of the Whites in a narrow defeat at the Emirates Stadium.

A late Gabriel winner made up for his previous error leading to Fulham’s opening goal in the game. While the Fulham faithful were left heartbroken, it was another promising performance in a London derby.

Bernd Leno

The German made a positive return his old club, making a number of vital saves while the game was in the balance from each of Arsenal’s frontline. While he could do nothing about Arsenal’s deflected first, he could’ve been stronger in defending the corner that led to the winner. 7.5/10

Kenny Tete

As has been proven on many an occasion, Tete continued to show how good he is in one-on-one scenarios defending his own goal, consistently closing down Gabriel Martinelli on his side. Definitely Tete’s best performance of the season so far. 8/10 – Man of the match

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Tosin

Tosin’s theme of looking shaky on the ball continued in North London, especially with multiple poor touches and slow passes in the opening stages of the game. Luckily, for the most part he made up for it with a good defensive display. 6.5/10

Tim Ream

I feel like a broken record saying this but Ream does continue to be the stronger of the centre-back pairing. Frequently defending positively on the front foot and calm on the ball, our Captain America continues to prove people wrong. 7.5/10

Antonee Robinson

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The first four games have proved a few people’s hypothesis that Jedi’s game is better in the Premier League. A larger focus on his athleticism and strength at the back continues to work in his favour as he continues to impress this season. 7.5/10

Joao Palhinha

Another game where Palhinha matched his midfield opponents in battle, but as Fulham played the game from deeper positions, Palhinha’s effect on the game in the way of dictating the play was slightly muted. 7/10

Harrison Reed

While Reed wasn’t bad in any stretch of the imagination, I think situations where Fulham are sat back and so focused on shape minimises the effect of a midfielder whose game is heavily based on ball retention and covering so much of the pitch. 6.5/10

Andreas Pereira

The Brazilian worked well in pressing from the front as he continues to effect the game from almost a second striker in Marco Silva’s system. Denied a potential first goal when Kebano failed to pass across the box in a promising position at 0-0. 7/10

Bobby De-Cordova Reid

Bobby cut a frustrated figure for a majority of the game, struggling to get involved in the few attacks Fulham put together and getting embroiled in a few scruffy incidents with the Arsenal players. 6/10

Neeskens Kebano

It was good to have Neeskens back on the left hand side, showing his importance in driving at opposition defences with pace and precision. As previously mentioned, however, he squandered a huge opportunity to play in Pereira for an easy goal. 7/10

Aleksandar Mitrovic

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As has come to be expected, Mitro’s hold-up play, link-up play and battling qualities were no less effective against seriously strong opposition, resulting in a quality goal after dispossessing Gabriel in a dangerous position. 7.5/10

Substitutes

Tom Cairney (69’ for Neeskens Kebano)

Dictated play nicely while Fulham were trying to hold on to a potential result. 6.5/10

Issa Diop and Kevin Mbabu (79’ for Kenny Tete and Andreas Pereira)

While not at fault performance wise, the change to a back five that came from these two changes, led to a huge increase of pressure on our goal from Arsenal. 6/10 for both

Nathaniel Chalobah and Jay Stansfield (88’ for Tim Ream and Joao Palhinha)

Neither were quite able to find Fulham a late equaliser, despite a decent attempt in added time from Chalobah. 6/10 for both

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