Arsenal: 4 talking points as Nketiah salvages draw vs Fulham

Fresh off the back of a magnificent win against Slavia Prague, Arsenal hosted Fulham in the Premier League with the visitors needing a win to keep alive their faint hopes of survival. The 1-1 draw does neither side much good. Here are the talking points.

Mikel Arteta came into this fixture knowing he has four full days of recovery, thus had the chance to build momentum with a similar starting lineup, yet said pre-game that some players hadn’t recovered and changes were enforced for freshness.

It didn’t make much difference as Arsenal started strongly, nearly going in front inside the first minute. They kept probing and pressing with Gabriel Martinelli lively and thought they got the goal their performance deserved with Dani Ceballos heading home for his first goal in the competition.

That wonderful invention known as VAR ruled it out, however, as Bukayo Saka‘s toenail meant he was offside, apparently.

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Arsenal vs Fulham: 4 talking points as Eddie Nketiah salvages 1-1 draw in the Premier League on Sunday

Coming out for the second half with similar impetus, everything came crumbling down as Gabriel was adjudged to have stood on Mario Lemina’s toenail, and with VAR checking for an offside that was 100% guesswork, Josh Maja scored from the penalty spot. It was Fulham’s only shot on target all game.

Gabriel went to centre-forward and Saka to right-back as Arsenal threw everything at the Cottagers. Nicolas Pepe was desperately unlucky with his header being cleared off the line and Saka also came within inches with a curling effort, as it appeared no goal would come.

Then with seven minutes of stoppage time, Mat Ryan (Olivier Giroud) flicked on a corner that eventually fell into the path of Eddie Nketiah who tapped home to snatch a point that Arsenal deserved.

Some unnecessary celebrations from the team followed as hearts ruled heads, with a result neither side were after.

Alexandre Lacazette Hammer Blow

Can’t catch a break, can they? At first it looked like Lady Luck wasn’t present for Granit Xhaka, who was writhing in pain and clutching his leg with an apparent injury. He fortunately got up and carried on, but the same couldn’t be said for Alexandre Lacazette.

The draw is a poor result and continues the theme of the season, yet the hamstring pull for the No. 9 is arguably a far worse occurrence than a result in a competition Arsenal were unlikely to get any joy from.

It’s a crushing blow to their chances of ending the season on a high, with Lacazette performing well in a system he’s suited to of late.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is expected to return from malaria but the lasting effects of the illness mean it’s unsure how long it will take for him to adjust to high intensity matches.

Eddie Nketiah came on and showed his predatory instincts for the equaliser and is in line for more (any) minutes, and with Folarin Balogun officially a member of the first team he will at least be making the bench heading into the final stretch depending on how long Lacazette will be absent for.

Despite the options, it’s a huge loss. Fingers crossed for the scan.