Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard was frustrated by his side's inability to capitalize on their dominance in the 1-1 draw with Fulham.
Arsenal was forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against Fulham at Craven Cottage, much to the annoyance of captain Martin Odegaard.
In a game where the Gunners dominated, for all the pressure and field position, Fulham's defense held strong, after Raul Jimenez opened the scoring after finishing off a swift counter-attack after just 11 minutes...which was one of the hosts two shots on target for the whole game.
It only takes a second to score, and Fulham's opener meant the Gunners had to play catch-up. Wiliam Saliba's equalizer just after half-time brought some energy to the team, but they couldn't find a breakthrough.
The Gunners had 12 shots to Fulham's two and dominated possession, yet couldn't find a winner, leaving Odegaard rather annoyed at how efficient the hosts were, along with how many chances went begging for his team.
“We didn’t score enough to win,” Odegaard said via arsenal.com. “We dominated the whole game, they didn’t create anything, apart from the goal, we had a few big moments there, especially with the disallowed goal at the end. We did a lot, but I think we have to be a bit more aggressive going into the box and attacking the box. We created a few bigger chances there, but I think that it’s a game we should win. So we are disappointed, obviously we wanted to win. We have to move on and that’s it.”
Fulham FC v Arsenal FC - Premier League
The draw will sting given Arsenal had more than its fair share fo chances, but when we factor Gabriel Martinelli's mental error near the end of the game, its enough to make fans rip their hair out.
After picking the ball up on his flank, Martinelli lofted a delightful ball to the back post for Bukayo Saka and the winger finished it off superbly, and the Gunners thought they had the lead.
But Martinelli was adjudged to have been offside, and the goal was disallowed, and the Gunners' attempts at stealing it late vanished.
Given that Liverpool's fixture against Everton was postponed, and Manchester City dropped points, coupled with Chelsea's 4-3 win over Tottenham, the missed opportunity will hurt even more for Arsenal.
But as Odegaard stated, the team must now move on and focus on Monaco in the Champions League midweek, as they can't allow this disappointment to linger.