Arsenal 2 Fulham 1: Gabriel makes up for defensive howler with late goal to seal win and keep Gunners top of the table
OF COURSE, Arsenal fans are getting carried away with themselves.
Yet considering they are still top of the Premier League and still with a 100 per cent record, you can hardly blame them for enjoying the moment.
This noisy Emirates crowd, which is now generating a different decibel level compared to years gone by, bounced out of the stadium last night.
Will they finish top at the end of the season? Probably not.
But the improvement in attitude, particularly when things go a bit pear-shaped, was summed up yesterday.
And that is why Arsenal appear to now have a good chance of finally getting back into the Champions League at the end of last season.
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Although always in control, Arsenal had to be patient as they laboured against an extremely stubborn and impressive Fulham team.
At one stage, it looked as though the newly-promoted club were going to win away at Arsenal for the first time ever, which is unbelievable when you consider this was their 31st attempt.
Yet Gabriel Magalhaes, who handed Aleksandar Mitrovic the opener with an embarrassing mistake, popped with the winner four minutes from time.
After Martin Odegaard levelled with a deflected strike, former Arsenal keeper Bernd Leno showed exactly why he was bombed by Mikel Arteta after failing to punch clear Gabriel Martinelli’s corner.
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The ball landed perfectly for Gabriel who could not really miss but when you look at his earlier error, anything is possible,
For Fulham, this was their first loss, But if they keep playing like this - and not forgetting their previous three results including a draw with Liverpool, Marco Silva’s team will be fine this season.
Arsenal, meanwhile, will look to continue their momentum against Aston Villa on Wednesday although they will have to do much better in the final third.
Equally, Arteta’s team are playing with a huge amount of confidence and little wonder.
In the first half, they dominated, giving Fulham absolutely no time on the ball. The only surprise was that Arteta's team did not give Leno more problems.
The German’s last appearance here for Arsenal was in a 5-1 Carabao Cup win over Sunderland last December.
There were shouts for a penalty following Joao Palhinha’s challenge on Bukayo Saka but a spot-kick would have been incredibly harsh.
And Granit Xhaka lifted a volley over the bar but the pass from Gabriel Jesus could have been better as it was at knee height.
In fairness, Fulham defended well with Tim Ream and Kenny Tete making good tackles
The first big chance - and it took over half an hour - fell to Saka. After a stunning move, the England international turned Tosin Adarabioyo inside out and then shot straight at Leno
Martinelli’s corner hit the top of the bar and in first half injury time, Jesus’ close-range shot was blocked by Ream.
Fulham’s only attempt in the opening 45 minutes - and it was not a very good one - came from a rising shot from Andreas Pereira
Arteta had become irritable with referee Jarred Gillett, who had started to lose his grip on the game.
If the All or Nothing series on Amazon was anything to go by, the manager would have been bouncing around the dressing room at half-time, urging them to have more quality up front.
The most comical moment of the game came courtesy of Neeskens Kebano who threatened to score one of the early contenders of goals of the season.
He took the ball from the half-time line and tore into the Arsenal area and when he attempted to send the ball past Aaron Ramssdale, he completely missed the ball and ended up in a heap, much to the delight of the home fans.
Yet soon after, the supporters were not laughing.
Firstly, Odegaard and Jesus forced saves from Leno and Arsenal seemed to be turning the screw.
But Gabriel was then guilty of a terrible lack of concentration as he attempted to control a risky pass from Saka across the area.
Mitrovic, who had not moved around a lot until then, was onto Gabriel like a flash.
He had too much strength for the Brazilian and guided the shot past a stunned Leno.
Mitrovic, who was also having his shirt pulled by Gabriel, jogged over to the corner to enjoy a riotous goal celebration.
That stunned Arsenal into action and they replied eight minutes later with Saka feeding Odegaard and his shot wrong-footed Leno thanks to a deflection off Adarabioyo.
Saka delivered the assist but Odegaard deserves all the credit as he made space for himself with a stepover.
Eddie Nketiah, who replaced Kieran Tierney after Fulham’s opener, injected some life into Arsenal’s attack and had three decent chances.
But considering he failed to score any of them, it felt as though Fulham were going to get away with a point.
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Yet Arsenal refused to give up and Gabriel ended up the unlikely hero.
There was a VAR check for handball but the goal was given and for the time being at least, Arteta remains above his former club Manchester City.
