William Saliba’s second-half goal, from another Declan Rice corner, earned us a draw in a wet and windy London derby.
The defender was in the right place to turn in Kai Havertz’s far post header early in the second-half.
We had trailed at half-time, Raul Jimenez fired the hosts ahead with their only attempt on goal in the opening 45 minutes.
Bukayo Saka had the ball in the net late on, heading in a deep Martinelli cross, but it was disallowed for offside after a VAR check.
**Fulham fire first**
We saw a lot of the ball in the opening exchanges, forcing a couple of corners and pushing the hosts back. They had barely left their own half in the first ten minutes.
But with their first attack, Fulham opened the scoring. They went from defence to attack in an instant. Kenny Tete released Jimenez on the right, the Mexican burst past Jakub Kiwior into the box and finished well into the bottom corner beyond the diving David Raya.
We picked up from where we were before conceding, continuing to enjoy most of the possession, but without cutting through.
Bernd Leno – one of three ex-Gunners in the Fulham team – dealt well with an inswinging Bukayo Saka corner before Declan Rice had him scrambling with a first-time shot from Leandro Trossard’s searching pass from deep. His left-footed effort rolled wide.
Trossard created our next chance too. His cross found Saka at the far post, but the England man miscued his volley well off target.
**Set piece again**
Fulham seemed happy to sit in deep, let us have the ball and frustrate our build up play. With their pace up front, they always retained a threat on the counter as well.
As the rain continued to fall in the second half, we tried to pick up the urgency. Declan Rice swung in an inviting free kick that Thomas Partey just couldn’t connect with in front of goal. We won a corner from it though, and for the third time in a week it led to a goal.
Rice’s deep delivery was met at the far post by Kai Havertz’s header, and Saliba was in the right place to prod it home.
The goal stood after a VAR check for offside against the Frenchman, but he was just onside. Game on.
**Late chances**
Another excellent Rice corner picked out Partey at the far post, but he headed wide when well placed.
The game started to open up. Fulham launched another counter, but Raya saved Andres Pereira’s low shot with his legs.
Mikel Arteta sent on Gabriel Martinelli, Mikel Merino, Gabriel Jesus and Ethan Nwaneri for some fresh energy in the second half.
Rice had a long-range shot saved by Leno before Saka had the ball in the net at the far post from a Martinelli cross. The goal was initially awarded, but then overruled by VAR – the Brazilian was marginally offside in the build up.
The draw takes us six points behind Liverpool, second in the table, at least until the late Sunday game.
**What’s next**
It’s back to Champions League action on Wednesday, when we welcome AS Monaco to Emirates Stadium on matchday six of the league phase. The Premier League schedule resumes next weekend at home to Everton, on Saturday.
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.