The league leaders were three goals to the good at half-time as Viktor Gyokeres’ brace either side of Bukayo Saka’s clean finish put Arteta’s side firmly in control.
Gyokeres gave the Gunners a 9th-minute lead when Bukayo Saka – who returned to the starting line-up for the first time since the Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City – capitalised on Antonee Robinson’s slip before seamlessly squaring across goal to find the Swede, who tapped into an empty net.
Fulham barely entered the Arsenal area in the first 45 minutes and were relieved to see the VAR intervene to disallow Riccardo Calafiori’s header after replays showed the Italian to be clearly offside before nodding past Leno.
The decision seemed to provide some encouragement for Marco Silva’s side as Fulham finally started to find space inside the Arsenal half after spending the first 30 minutes of the match struggling to cope with the hosts’ pressure.
But Gyokeres – in arguably his best performance for Arsenal since signing for the club last summer – turned provider for Saka as the Swede’s tidy cutback inside the Fulham box allowed the Arsenal winger the time and space to pick his spot and fire past Bernd Leno.
Gyokeres then grabbed his second of the day when Leandro Trossard floated a cross towards the back post before the Arsenal striker leapt to connect with a header that beat Leno.
It was Arsenal’s best performance for months. There was hunger, intent and a desire to attack the opposition at every given opportunity.
Fulham came out in the second half looking slightly more effective going forward, but Arsenal had taken their foot off the gas with the knowledge that a three-goal lead would suffice with Saka, Rice, Gyokeres and Eze all taken off.
The result leaves Arsenal six points clear of Manchester City at the Premier League summit, having played two games more.
Pep Guardiola’s side travels to Merseyside to face Everton on Monday night as they look to halve the deficit before Arsenal go to West Ham next Sunday.
ANALYSIS
Did the Lewis-Skelly midfield experiment work?
The task was clear coming into this game – win, or bust.
That’s what being chased down by Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City feels like. No time for introspection, no room for manoeuvre, no margin for error. Arsenal have had their wobble: the Fulham match was simply a must-win.
Still reeling from the injustice of Eberechi Eze’s overturned penalty kick in Madrid on Wednesday, Mikel Arteta threw a spanner in the works when the teams were announced before kick-off as Myles Lewis-Skelly was named in midfield.
The 19-year-old has started just twice in the Premier League this season, with Piero Hincapie and Riccardo Calafiori chosen ahead of him.
Lewis-Skelly’s future at Arsenal remains in the balance. Some reports have suggested that Arsenal may look to cash in on the Hale End graduate this summer to help book pure profit on the club’s balance sheet for PSR (Profit and Sustainability Rules) purposes engineered by the Premier League.
The defender is one of the few players in Arteta’s squad who will fearlessly carry the ball through the lines. The England international brings craft and creativity but can be found wanting defensively. Arteta has looked to bury those worries by limiting Lewis-Skelly’s playing time.
He vanquished those demons against Fulham. He was commanding on the ball and continuously made himself available to receive it when his teammates were under pressure. He forced Fulham midfielder Sasa Lukic into challenges which may have seen him sent off on another day, but Jarred Gillett applied common sense to exonerate the Serbian international.
There is something very appealing about a young player exhibiting their skillset on the biggest stage and – in Lewis-Skelly’s case – doing it with very little football under his belt this season.
Ultimately, he looked comfortable playing in a role that many have called for Arteta to deploy him in when the Arsenal midfield duo of Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi had seemed to have gone stale.
Lewis-Skelly’s performance provides Arteta with a solution to a problem that has been bubbling under the surface for some time. There are only three Premier League matches remaining with West Ham, Burnley and Crystal Palace to come, but it’s possible that the Arsenal manager may now feel that he can lean into Lewis-Skelly between now and the end of the season, with Zubimendi surely the first choice for a potential Champions League final.
Saka silences critics
When Bukayo Saka’s name was read out over the tannoy in the moments leading up to kick-off, it was met with an almighty roar from the Arsenal fans. In some ways, Saka’s return feels like a new signing. He has been out nursing an Achilles problem since the Carabao Cup final and withdrew from international duty with England.
Barring a pair of late substitute appearances against Newcastle and Atletico Madrid, Saka has not been seen in the red and white of Arsenal since the Gunners lost 2-0 to Manchester City at Wembley.
His form had been questioned by many after underwhelming numbers in front of goal this season.
In the first half, Saka offered a threat in behind and linked up well with Gyokeres, setting up the first goal for the Sweden striker before netting Arsenal’s second as the latter turned provider with a tidy cutback before Saka smashed past Bernd Leno to double the Gunners’ lead.
Arteta took the decision to protect the England star by hooking him at half-time with the Champions League semi-final second leg against Atletico in mind.
Gyokeres’ best performance yet?
Arsenal spent big money last summer to bring Viktor Gyokeres in from Sporting Lisbon.
After a long, drawn-out process that saw relationships sour between Arsenal and the Portuguese club, the Swedish striker finally got his way and joined the club. It was a signing many yearned for after three successive second-placed Premier League finishes left Arsenal looking for something extra to add goals that the likes of Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard seemingly weren’t able to score.
Nobody will recognise more that there are serious improvements that need to be made in order to be successful in the Premier League than Gyokeres himself. He now has 20 goals in all competitions in his first season in the Premier League, but several performances preceding the Fulham game made it clear that Arsenal were not the best version of themselves when Gyokeres was starting.
For 45 minutes at least, that all changed on Saturday evening. A first-half brace coupled with notable improvements in his hold-up play allowed him a standing ovation when he was replaced by Gabriel Jesus in the 64th minute.
With Havertz still a doubt for Arsenal’s semi-final second leg against Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, Gyokeres’ rise in form gives Arteta an easy decision to make should the German international be deemed not fit enough to feature against the Spanish giants.
Arsenal: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly, Rice, Eze, Saka, Trossard, Gyokeres
Fulham: Leno, Castagne, Bassey, Andersen, Robinson, Reed (C), Lukic, Chukweze, Smith-Rowe, Wilson, Jimenez