Arsenal lost ground in the Premier League title race on Sunday as they could only muster a 1-1 draw with London rivals Fulham at Craven Cottage. Raul Jimenez fired the Cottagers ahead after 11 minutes but after a bold second-half display, William Saliba tapped home from yet another set-piece to restore parity in the game.
However, the drama wasn't done there with Bukayo Saka denied a late winner in West London with Gabriel Martinelli adjudged to have been offside in the build-up. VAR quickly intervened and after a length check the Gunners were denied their perfect ending as the game ended level.
Next up is a tricky test against Monaco in the UEFA Champions League and Mikel Arteta will want his players to take a big step towards the knockout stages with a huge victory over the Ligue 1 side on Wednesday evening. Here, football.london brings a fresh look to all things Arsenal following a busy matchday in the Premier League.
Late VAR drama
Martinelli's offside call angered fans in the aftermath especially given how clearly he appears to be looking down the line as play rolls on at Craven Cottage. The Premier League released a statement on the matter to give further context but we can't disagree that the right call was made and the Arsenal winger should have done better.
A lot has been made of the Brazilian and his performances in big games this season with he handed a rating of just 6.1 by WhoScored following his introduction in the second half at Craven Cottage.
football.london says: The criticism cast Martinelli's way is fair given his performances of late. The talented winger clearly looks to check if he is offside in the run-up and should he have just strayed back another half a second, Arsenal would have emerged victorious and closed the gap even further on current Premier League leaders Liverpool.
Merson hits out at Martinelli
Former Arsenal forward Paul Merson believes it was a careless approach to a high-pressure situation in which Martinelli should have done better. With his cross eventually finding its way through to Saka, Merson had this to stay via Sky Sports following the game.
"I can’t express enough how, in football terms, you just can’t do that. You cannot be offside when you are looking along the line," he began. "You [Martinelli] have got pace, he is electric. He is not someone who has got to try and nick a yard and be on the edge. He can give someone a yard or two. I will be surprised if he is not on the end of one in the dressing room when he gets in, by the manager. Even he knows. You can see on his face afterwards that you can’t do that."
football.london says: Arsenal had plenty of chances to win the game and Martinelli's mistake is a tough one to call. But with so much riding on the Gunners' Premier League title hopes, you do really have to feel for the margin of error that does not simply exist at the very top level this season.
Odegaard reality
Speaking after the game, Martin Odegaard insisted Arsenal cannot let other teams ruin their hopes of success this season. With Chelsea also leapfrogging them into second in the Premier League, the Gunners will need to up their game as a busy festive period approaches and the former Real Madrid midfielder spoke out on the matter after the 90 minutes.
"We have to focus on ourselves. We don't care about the other teams," he told Sky Sports. "We did a lot of good things. We have to do more and put the ball in the box more times. Maybe be a bit more direct and aggressive. We could have won it in the end. It's a very long way to go. We've said hundreds of times we have to keep going game by game."
football.london says: Odegaard is right to point to how much is still to play and it is likely that many teams in and around the top four will have a blip before now and the end of the season. For Arsenal's sake, this could be the fire they need to go on and end last season's hurt and win silverware under Arteta come the vital stages of May.