This was a mechanical performance from Arsenal but it was enough. Enough to see off Fulham, enough to avoid a row over a questionable refereeing decision and enough for Mikel Arteta’s side to increase the pressure on Liverpool before the champions look to move past their slump when they host Manchester United on Sunday afternoon.
It never came close to capturing the imagination. There was the inevitable corner to decide a drab contest, Leandro Trossard popping up with an opportunistic goal just before the hour, but there was nothing memorable from Arsenal in open play. They created few openings and for all his graft there was concern about another blunt outing for Viktor Gyökeres, who returned from a troubled international break with Sweden and saw his goalless streak for club and country run into a ninth game.
Patience is required with Gyökeres. Arsenal could do with the big Swede’s goals making these games more comfortable but there were encouraging flashes from the former Sporting Lisbon forward. Gyökeres ran hard and there were moments when he made chances for himself with his burly hold-up play. “We were all begging for him to score,” Arteta said. “The work rate he puts in for the team is phenomenal.”
The focus was on the collective as Arsenal tightened their grip on first place by moving three points clear of Manchester City and four ahead of Liverpool. The one worry, perhaps, is the analysis being coloured by the result. After all, the performance was not so different to ones that led to costly dropped points last season; then again, Arteta is entitled to point out that grinding out wins is a vital quality for any team with aspirations of winning the league.
Arsenal are not a soft touch any more. They have only conceded three times in the league and have kept five clean sheets from eight games. How to break them down? Riccardo Calafiori and Jurriën Timber are unflinching full-backs while William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães give nothing away in the middle. Fulham, a neat, tidy and creative team, were not granted one shot on target. It was David Raya’s second consecutive game without having to make a save.
The questions for Arteta about winning ugly were intended as compliments. Arsenal’s manager smiled and remembered his side dropping points on their previous two trips to Fulham. “The recent history wasn’t in our favour and we wanted to change that,” Arteta said. “That’s another step – having that mindset to win against difficult opposition.”
There were initial complications for Arsenal to sort out. Fulham were combative, even with a host of key players missing, and they created the better chances during the opening exchanges. Raúl Jiménez and Harry Wilson both went close during a positive start from Marco Silva’s side.
Arsenal responded through Calafiori, who was a shade offside when he took Trossard’s layoff and battered a shot into the top corner, but the early flow was lacking. A lot of the play was in front of Fulham. Declan Rice and Martín Zubimendi both looked jaded in midfield after their respective exertions for England and Spain.
Much has been made of Arsenal’s deep squad, of how Arteta has sought to ensure injuries need not kill his team’s title challenge, but what if the wrong player drops out? The absence of Martin Ødegaard, out for six weeks with a knee injury, is a blow. The captain’s ability to take the ball and keep finding angles is a piercing weapon against deep defences. Eberechi Eze is a different kind of No 10. He is more accustomed to breaking into space but with Sander Berge sitting in front of Fulham’s back four it was not easy for Eze.
Arsenal’s patience was tested. Zubimendi, Ødegaard’s replacement, slapped his thighs in annoyance after fluffing a simple ball. Bukayo Saka wriggled in from the right but was tracked carefully by Ryan Sessegnon and Alex Iwobi.
Short of ingenuity, Arsenal upped the pace of their passing, pressing and movement. Saka made a chance for Gyökeres but Bernd Leno saved well. Calafiori shot over. Fulham’s task grew harder when they were forced into a defensive alteration, Issa Diop replacing the injured Joachim Andersen.
The pressure from Arsenal was more persistent than imaginative. They worked the same patterns over and over, repeatedly directing attacks down Saka’s flank, but the goal came from a familiar source. Saka delivered a corner, Gabriel flicked the ball on and Trossard volleyed in from close range.
It was all very minimalistic. Arsenal pressed for a second. Leno denied Saka. The Arsenal winger then thought he had a penalty after being challenged by Kevin, the Fulham substitute. Anthony Taylor, though, was persuaded to overturn his decision when he viewed the pitchside monitor and concluded that Kevin had brushed the ball at the same time as bumping knees with Saka.
Arsenal’s advantage remained slender, Gyökeres missing a couple of chances. However, any notion that the game was in the balance was an illusion. Arsenal were too solid for an equaliser ever to be a realistic prospect.
