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3 positives & negatives from Arsenal's 2-1 defeat at Fulham
- Insipid performance from Arsenal to lose again
- Attack fails to deliver despite changes
- Title race at risk of evaporating early on
Arsenal slumped to a second successive defeat in the Premier League with a 2-1 loss to Fulham on Sunday, surrendering a lead in the process.
The Gunners took the lead inside five minutes when Bukayo Saka got on the end of Gabriel Martinelli’s shot after Bernd Leno made the initial save to deny the Brazilian.
Everyone expected Arsenal to kick on after going ahead so early, but they conceded possession, allowing Fulham to dominate and deservedly got the equaliser in the 28th minute when Raul Jimenez scored for the home side. Fulham pressed their advantage and Bobby De Cordova-Reid scored just before the hour mark to put them in front.
Arsenal never looked like scoring again after that and were beaten twice in four days with a performance that should worry Mikel Arteta. The result leaves them in fourth, two points behind leaders Liverpool who will face Newcastle United on Monday and level on points with Manchester City, who have a game in hand.
I will struggle to find anything good to say about this game but here are the positives and negatives from Arsenal's defeat in west London.
3 positives & negatives from Arsenal's 2-1 defeat at Fulham
Positive #1: Early goal
After missing a flurry of chances on Thursday against West Ham, Arsenal would have hoped to put that behind them and score early against Fulham. They did just that when Saka scored inside five minutes.
They had 30 attempts against West Ham but failed to convert any of the chances and going ahead very early was a perfect platform for the team to go on and score some more, but they failed to capitalise on that. Early goals will be critical to Arsenal's success during the second half of the season.
Negative #1: Flat performance
I can’t remember the last time I watched an Arsenal game and drifted off midway through the game. It was a very boring and insipid performance from the team.
The season for Arteta has been about control and defensive solidity, but they lacked any of those things on Sunday and when the likes of Declan Rice, William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes are all having an off day, then you know it really was a bad day. Fulham threatened throughout and were fully deserving of all three points.
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