Fulham vs Arsenal LIVE: Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Aaron Ramsey all score
Arsenal breezed past Fulham in what proved to be their best performance of the season so far as Unai Emery's side stretched their run of consecutive victories to nine in all competitions.
Alexandre Lacazette opened the scoring in the first half with a neat finish from close range, and although Fulham's Andre Schurrle was able to peg the visitors back just before half-time, the Frenchman added a second soon after the second half began.
Aaron Ramsey then finished a beautiful move that will be in the running for goal of the season as a deft backheel added the third, before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang came off the bench to score a double of his own to seal the rout. Re-live the live action below.
An excellent team performance from Arsenal, blowing Fulham away in the second half after Andre Schurrle cancelled out Alexandre Lacazette's opener. Eight consecutive wins for Unai Emery's side.
Aaron Ramsey has been good off the bench and he sparks this goal. A half-turn in midfield, a nice ball with the outside of his foot to find Aubameyang just onside in behind and the Gabonese striker fires home across Marcus Bettinelli. 1-5.
Well over the bar. Time running out for the hosts if they are to get back in this one.
Aaron Ramsey had been on the pitch for 38 seconds before scoring Arsenal's third. He touched the ball thrice in that magical move, including his brilliant back-heeled finish.
Aleksandar Mitrovic gets himself free in the six-yard box from a Fulham header in, but can't produce the requisite power to beat Bernd Leno. His header is straight at the German goalkeeper, too.
Alexandre Lacazette flicks on to Hector Bellerin, who back heels superbly to Ramsey. The Welshman, literally only seconds after coming on for Alex Iwobi heads on to Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who plays in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Aubameyang crosses low and it is a delectable little flick from Ramsey to turn the ball against the inside the post and in. Seek this goal out - magnificent!
Nearly! Aboubakar Kamara leaps well but can only get his shoulder on the ball when well placed to head home.
Changes: Fulham bring on Kevin McDonald for Andre-Frank Anguissa to anchor the midfield. Arsenal remove Danny Welbeck so that Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang can come on.
The match will be shown live on BT Sport 1, with coverage starting from 11:30am. BT Sport subscribers can also watch the game online via the BT Sport app.
Highlights will be shown at 10:30pm on BBC One.
It’s a big game for…
Aleksandar Mitrovic: The Serb started the Everton game well but became increasingly frustrated with the lack of service and connection with the midfield. The former Newcastle man will be confident of fashioning opportunities for himself at the weekend against Shkodran Mustafi, but he will need to show greater impact throughout the game if Fulham are to emerge victorious for the first time in over a month.
AleksandarMitrovic celebrates after scoring against Watford (Getty)
Weird /best stat…
51.3: Arsenal have the best win rate in Premier League London derbies, with wins in 51.3% of such matches. They face the team with the worst ratio in such fixtures, with Fulham recording wins in just 20.8% of these encounters.
Remember when…
Lukas Podolski became something of a cult hero during his time at Arsenal, but that assessment somewhat does a disservice to his incredible finishing prowess. This double against the Cottagers was just one example of the typical Podolski strikes that fans all over the world became accustomed to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIIJhpVHuDY
Player to watch…
Bernd Leno: The German goalkeeper has finally got his chance to impress following a hamstring injury to Petr Cech in the first half against Watford and he seems to have grasped it with both hands. He looked assured when he replaced the Czech and pulled off a fantastic save to deny Troy Deeney, before putting in another impressive display against Qarabag in midweek.
Bernd Leno impressed in the Europa League (Getty)
Past three-meetings…
Arsenal 2 (Cazorla x2) Fulham 0, Premier League, January 2014
Fulham 1 (Bent) Arsenal 3 (Giroud, Podolski x2), Premier League, August 2013
Fulham 0 Arsenal 1 (Mertesacker), Premier League, April 2013
Form guide…
Fulham: WDLDWL
Arsenal: WWWWWW
Odds…
Fulham to win: 4/1
Arsenal to win: 8/13
Draw: 10/3
(Odds provided by 888 Sport)
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