Arsenal 2-1 Fulham – 3 talking points as Gunners remain undefeated

Arsenal continued its undefeated start to the season with a 2-1 win over Fulham. Two second-half goals from Martin Odegaard and Gabriel canceled out Aleksandar Mitrovic’s opener at a sun-soaked Emirates Stadium.

Mikel Arteta was forced into two changes for the clash with Fulham. Oleksander Zinchenko and Thomas Partey were both out with injury as Mohamed Elneny, and Kieran Tierney came in for their first starts of the campaign.

The opening 20 minutes were dominated by Arsenal as, at times, they passed up shooting chances in favor of trying to get the perfect goal as Martin Odegaard was pulling the strings to perfection and was causing havoc.

The Gunners were utterly dominant, but their first shot on target didn’t come until the 34th minute as Bukayo Saka was denied brilliantly by former Arsenal keeper Bernd Leno.

The first half came and went as Arsenal dominated every facet of the game but failed to find the back of the net as they went into the sheds level with Fulham.

The Gunners started the second half similarly to the first, but the visitors took the lead after just nine minutes. Aleksandar Mitrovic hassled Gabriel, won the ball off the Brazilian, and then coolly slotted past Aaron Ramsdale and into the net.

Arsenal wasn’t behind for long as captain Martin Odegaard dragged his side level with his deflected shot just eight minutes later. Saka drove towards the box, and the ball found its way to the Norwegian, whose shot found its way past Leno via a deflection to bring the home side on level terms.

It looked as if Arsenal would have to settle for a point, but with five minutes of normal time remaining, they took the lead. Gabriel went from villain to hero as he took advantage of Leno’s mishap, as he couldn’t get near the corner kick, and the defender poked home from close range to send the Emirates into raptures.

The Gunners held on for the remaining minutes to continue their undefeated start to the Premier League season.

The game provided plenty of talking points. Here they are.

Odegaard captain fantastic

The Norwegian produced a Man of the Match display at the Emirates as he was central to everything the Gunners did well.

His passing was on another level; he picked up little pockets of space in the attacking third and threaded numerous balls into his teammates who couldn’t finish his excellent work.

Odegaard’s ability to create little triangles with Saka and Martinelli, which allowed two v one’s as he made the Fulham defense move out of position all day..

His goal was a little fortunate, but he was great value for it. A true captain’s game from Odegaard as he led from the front with aplomb.