3 positives & negatives from Arsenal’s comeback win over Fulham

WHAT. A. WIN.

Arsenal kept their fantastic start to the season alive with a 2-1 comeback win against Fulham at the Emirates and there was a lot to take away from this nailbiter.

It is still early days in the 2022/23 season, but there is a lot to be excited about in north London.

3 positives & negatives from Arsenal’s comeback win over Fulham

While there were a lot of pros, there are a few negatives as well. Here are three of each:

Positive #1: The comeback

Arsenal got a whopping four (!!!!) points from a losing position last season. There was a lot that held that team back but not being able to come back and grind out a result like they did against Fulham was huge.

When I watched the comeback against Wolves last season, I thought that was surely the sign that the squad had the ability and the belief to get top four. Alas, that didn’t happen, but this team just feels different, they battled, dusted themselves off, and ground out a win against the confident Cottagers who had defended resolutely throughout.

Negative #1: Absences

The late injuries to players on Friday definitely played a role in Arsenal struggling to break through until late.

Mohamed Elneny and Kieran Tierney did decent to good jobs depending on who you ask but there’s no denying that the absences of Thomas Partey and Oleksandr Zinchenko were huge, especially the latter. Elneny did a pretty good job with and without the ball on Saturday.

Zinchenko’s progression and ability to function as an inverted full-back are crucial for Mikel Arteta and while KT is more athletic and better defensively, he hinders Arsenal in the build-up. Tierney struggled when instructed to drift inside by the manager, and the Gunners’ entire left-hand side suffered as a result.

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