Fulham v Arsenal LIVE: Gunners drop points in title race after being held at Craven Cottage
Fulham 1-1 Arsenal: William Saliba cancelled out Raul Jimenez’s opener as points shared
Arsenal dropped points in the title race after being held to a 1-1 draw against Fulham in the Premier League on Sunday.
With Liverpool’s Merseyside derby being postponed the Gunners had the opportunity to close the gap on the league leaders to just four points but Mikel Arteta’s team failed to take advantage at Craven Cottage. They were put under pressure early in the match as the hosts released Raul Jimenez down the inside right channel and the striker slotted past David Raya with a fine finish.
The Gunners were sloppy and frustrated throughout the first half with Fulham set deep in a low block. William Saliba pulled a goal back after the restart, nodding home from another set piece to inspire hope of a comeback. In the dying stages Bukayo Saka believed he’d completed the comeback but his 88th minute goal was ruled out due to Gabriel Martinelli being offside in the build up.
Arsenal sit second int the table, for now, six points behind Liverpool who also have a game in hand.
Relive the updates from the clash at Craven Cottage in our live blog below:
Odegaard: “We dominated most of the game"
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard is first to speak to Sky, and he says that his side “dominated most of the game”.
“The first half wasn’t great. We were a bit sloppy and lacked energy and power. The second half was a lot better. It’s frustrating not to win. We were close in the end with the goal.
“They’re a good team. They know how to defend. A solid block. We didn’t do enough today. We have to learn from that and straight back in for the next one.
“We have to focus on ourselves. We don’t care about the other teams [in the title race].
“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.”
FULL-TIME! Fulham 1-1 Arsenal
FULL-TIME! Fulham 1-1 Arsenal
97 mins
The referee brings the match to an end as it finishes all square at Craven Cottage.
96 mins
Another chance wasted as Saka is too isolated, and Rice is booked for stopping the counter by dragging down his man.
Fulham 1-1 Arsenal
95 mins
Was that the last chance? Arsenal come forward and Martinelli’s cross has too much on it, before Saka gets away in the box but is wasteful as his ball is straight at Leno.
Fulham 1-1 Arsenal
94 mins
A few breaks in play after some fouls, and Fulham want a red card for Martinelli, but we play on.
Fulham 1-1 Arsenal
91 mins
Fulham get forward but Wilson crosses straight into the gloves of Raya. At the other end, Martinelli is clipped and it’ll be yet another dangerous free-kick.
Rice tries to cross in buy fires the free-kick well wide.
GOAL DISALLOWED! Fulham 1-1 Arsenal
90 mins
Martinelli had indeed strayed off in the build-up. Needless in that area.
We’re into five minutes of added time.
VAR CHECK
It look like Martinelli has strayed offside in the build-up, just before Timber made the pass. That’s so poor if so.
GOAL! Fulham 1-2 Arsenal
88 mins
GOAL! And the visitors have surely won it!
It’s a well-worked goal too, with Martinelli picking it up on the left from Timber’s pass. He drives towards the box and clips in a cross towards the back post that Saka tucks away, finishing well.
But wait...is it offside?
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