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Fulham (0) 0 v Arsenal (0) 1
Premier League
Matchweek 8
Talking Points
By Kaz Mochlinski at Craven Cottage
Mikel Arteta talked passionately about changing history after seeing his Arsenal side battle to a one-goal win at Fulham, a result which raises hopes that the Gunners might at last improve on their recent runner-up finishes in the Premier League.
The Arsenal head coach is delighted that fixtures which undermined previous challenges for the league title have already this season been won, providing a potential platform to try and at last become champions again.
“The recent history wasn’t in our favour” noted Arteta of the tricky trip across town to Fulham. “And we wanted to change that, like we did against Newcastle, and West Ham at home.
“And that’s another step, having that mindset and that ability to win these kinds of matches against a really good opposition, a really difficult place to come.”
Having overtaken Liverpool at the top of the table just before this month’s international break, Arsenal are established as league leaders after eight matches - and to a large extent it is thanks to a historically unequalled achievement.
The Gunners have made their best ever start to a season defensively, letting in only three goals in 11 games in all competitions, with solely single goals conceded in three matches, to Liverpool, Manchester City and Newcastle United.
Statistically, Arsenal have the best defence in Europe so far in this campaign, having kept clean sheets eight times. It has included an unblemished October, as, in three games since the beginning of the month, they have avoided any goals going in.
Frighteningly, they are still honing their capabilities, with neither West Ham United nor Fulham managing to produce a shot on target over the course of the 90 minutes in the first two of the Gunners’ run of three London derbies in a row in the league.
The previous time that Arsenal did not allow any attempts on goal in consecutive Premier League matches was in November 2003, when the second game was also against Fulham - and they went on to win their last championship title.
22 seasons later there could hardly be a better historical omen, after finishing as runners-up three times in succession. And there are further facts to back up the feeling that this is now the Gunners’ best chance of success since the ‘Invincibles’.
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From 2021, when David Raya made his debut in the Premier League, he has more clean sheets in the competition than any other goalkeeper. At Fulham he registered his 54th top flight shut-out - a 34th with Arsenal following 20 with Brentford.
Since Gabriel Magalhães’s first Premier League appearance in 2020, he has more ‘goal involvements’ - goals and assists - than any other central defender, with a total of 20, the bulk of which is made up of 18 goals.
17 of Gabriel’s 20 ‘goal involvements’ have come from corners. Against Fulham he added to his remarkable number of 16 goals by providing a first assist at a corner, as his header enabled Leandro Trossard to score the only goal of the match.
Trossard’s first league goal of the season was finished first-time from close range with his right thigh / upper knee bundling the ball over the line, but it was made possible by Bukayo Saka’s left-footed in-swinging delivery and Gabriel’s immense leap.
Already Arsenal have scored seven goals from corners in their eight Premier League games this season, more than any other side. It was their 63rd since the start of 2021-22, during which time the next best that any other side has managed is 47.
In away league matches, every single one of the Gunners’ goals in the current campaign has come from corners, through Riccardo Calafiori at Manchester United, then Mikel Merino and Gabriel at Newcastle, prior to Trossard at Fulham.
This last one was the first which was not with a header. But otherwise it is history repeating itself. Arsenal’s set-pieces are just getting more renowned, and especially corners. The same, only better, and increasingly almost unstoppable.
Fulham’s head coach, Marco Silva, was ready and prepared for it, with Gabriel’s threat being counteracted by Ryan Sessegnon and Harry Wilson being deployed to shut off the Brazilian’s route towards goal. But the Gunners still scored from a set-piece.
“They score in one moment I think we prepare, and most of the time we did it very well the way we set up ourselves and the way we faced the corners and the free-kicks from Arsenal.
“We tried to block the run and to not allow Gabriel to go with all that power in the balls. Most of the time, Sessegnon and Harry Wilson, they did it very well. At that moment they opened the path for him to run and you see how high he jumped in that moment.
“It was very difficult of course for us to win that challenge in the air. And, with the power that he has come to the ball, for anyone to stop him heading with that power was going to be so difficult.
“Especially as most of our players they were blocked inside the box on that flick. Then it is so difficult for us to control on the far post. Even if you had the chance to control better at the far post that touch from Trossard made the main impact in the game.”
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