Dejected: Mikel Arteta trudges off following Arsenal’s draw against Fulham.
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Arsenal left Fulham having closed the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool, but this result felt like a real punch in the gut for their title hopes.
After the Merseyside derby was postponed yesterday due to Storm Darragh, the Gunners arrived in west London knowing they could move to within four points of Liverpool with a win over Fulham.
A draw is all they got, though, and the manner of the closing few moments made that all the more painful.
Bukayo Saka thought he had claimed all three points in the final minutes with a header at the back-post, only for VAR to correctly spot Gabriel Martinelli, who crossed him the ball, was offside in the build-up.
That summed up a frustrating afternoon for Arsenal, which began with them being behind after just 11 minutes. A long ball forward somehow allowed for Raul Jimenez to be through on goal and he finished excellently, finding the bottom corner.
The Gunners back-four was disjointed for it and that was perhaps due to the changes forced on Mikel Arteta.
Raul Jimenez put Fulham ahead against Arsenal
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This was the ninth different defence he has named this season in 15 league games and of those back-fours only two have played more than one match.
On this occasion, Jurrien Timber was moved from right to left-back after Oleksandr Zinchenko was ruled out due to injury. Thomas Partey shifted from holding midfield to right-back.
And it was down Arsenal’s left that Fulham’s goal came, with Jimenez’s movement enabling him to get past Kiwior. That, however, was one of only two shots Fulham had all game. Arsenal had 66 per cent possession and 12 shots.
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It was a set-piece again, though, that got them level. Declan Rice’s corner was headed back across goal by Kai Havertz and William Saliba was there to prod it home.
That equaliser came early at the start of the second-half and you thought Arsenal would kick on from there.
William Saliba scored Arsenal’s equaliser against Fulham from a set-piece.
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Their set-pieces were effective and Partey missed a glorious chance from a corner, when he was totally unmarked just a few yards out.
Other than that, Arsenal did not create much for all their dominance and that will be a concern for Arteta.
The bench lacked firepower, with Gabriel Jesus’ long wait for a league goal continuing to rumble on.
As they pushed for a winner at the end, Arsenal thought they had found it through Saka - who had a great battle with Antonee Robinson all game.
Saka finally thought he had got the better of him at the death, losing him at the far post to head in Martinelli’s cross - but VAR intervened. It was a painful end to what could be a costly afternoon for Arsenal.
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