Arsenal got the 2020-21 season off to a perfect start with a 3-0 win over newly promoted Fulham.
The goals came from Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and new boy Gabriel who had a superb debut – as did Willian who provided two assists.
There were lots of positives on the day for Mikel Arteta, including a clean sheet, the likes of Mo Elneny putting in a fantastic midfield performance, Rob Holding and Hector Bellerin coming back into good form, and both his main strikers scoring. All in all, a really positive day.
Read the Fulham 0-3 Arsenal match report and see the goals here.
Fulham 0-3 Arsenal – Player Ratings
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Ceballos back heel was filthy too. Great to see us building on the success of last season.
That whole sequence was R rated, the meg, the back heel. If ever a 5minuyr cameo said “fucking play me from the start” that was it
Everyone making Ceballos as if he’s Zidane or Messi. He’s a good player who will frankly be a decent squad player for us. There’s a reason he’s not wanted at Madrid he’s not a top tier starting midfielder. If he ws we won’t need to sign a creative midfielder because we have OZIL WILLIAN and we’re in the market fro another creative midfielder AOUAR if he was that great we won’t need AOUAR but apparently we still do. If we sign AOUAR and PARTEY Ceballos will be on the bench! so you guys stop kissing his a” and making seem… Read more »
High intensity season. Danny will start lots of games
He is here to prove a point.Probably showed his annoyance of not being selected on eddie.
He was wrong to do that. Hope he apologizes. There’s no excuse as I can see happening online.
What happened? My BT Sports app was glitchy and I missed so many key moments in this game
Handbags between Cabellos and Eddie, blown out of all proportion by being caught on camera in the warm up. Shows a bit of bite in the team. Long it may it continue.
Ceballos is brilliant! Hopefully he will sign with us on a permanent basis some day after Real Madrid buys someone overrated for a 100M in his position once things go back to normal and breaks Ceballos’ heart.
Maybe they will pay 100 mil for guendouzi oe ozil in jan
He’s decent he’s not that great, I personally didnt think we needed him. but he’s here so he adds value to the team but if we sign Partey and Aouar Ceballos will be nothing more than a squad player and an occasional starter as I don’t think he’s better than Aouar or Partey and definitely will not be starting ahead of Xhaka unless injured or suspended so yeah I think people should stop with the overhypeness he’s an okay player doing a decent job for us now BUT he was supposed to replace Ramsey and I still think he has… Read more »
Elneny. Was always reliable but Arteta has obviously seen something to improve his play. Who the heck are we going to try and sell?
Torreira and Guendouzi I would imagine. Elneny may be a decent squad option to have if we bolster the starting midfield.
He knows what EN can do, he played with him
Everyone was good today but special play from Willain, Gabriel and Auba (as usual). Special shout out to Elneny as well. Overall great game
Settle down on Elneny, he is still and will always be nothing more than an average player. Good for squad depth but a “Fulham” level midfielder
Except he was better than everyone in the Fulham squad today…
You couldn’t be more wrong. He is a metronome passer, oozes class, and will slot seamlessly in any defensive or midfield position where he is required.
You don’t get to be a premier league footballer by being average. I understand peoples feelings that he is not ‘Arsenal’ quality, but I’d argue there is a need for solid squad members who provide reliable back up. I think that is his role in the squad and I think he could get plenty of minutes over a season. Personally I don’t see him as a worse footballer than the likes of Jordan Henderson for example. He’ll not do anything flashy but he works hard, does a pretty good job and rarely makes costly errors. For me the only concern… Read more »
Settle down on some fans who will always be slating our own players after a superb performance. Always good to have such a performance from am average squad players. May Santa bring superstars in every position and the cup.
Stick to computer games mate.
Not to disrupt the view from your overstuffed armchair, but… Arteta has been quietly and relentlessly repairing the damage done to a number of ‘average’ players by Emery’s muddled tactics, stilted communications and knee-jerk in-game panic. Xhaka – no doubt also ‘average’ from your Parker-Knoll puffed up point of view, has become a revelation. Mustafi – whilst the jury’s still out pending another ‘Mustuffup’, he became a key part of last season’s final flourish Maitland-Niles – Emery’s last-ditch, band-aid approach to plugging him into any vacant injury-hole almost ruined a solid, blood-red Gooner. Elneny was yet another who was never… Read more »
Are we still on this? Fuck’s sake I thought people would’ve shut up by now after his community shield performance, but apparently some of us just love being a whiny bitch. I swear just because we didn’t bring him in for astronomical amounts people assume he’s average. A word of reminder – Kepa costed a whopping 70 million pounds and Emi is miles ahead.
Elneny has over 90 caps for his country one of the best African nations and helped them to African nation final. And scored fircus v Barca
He can’t be that bad if Brendan Rodgers wanted him at Leicester can he??
Gabriel the guy complete as a player
MOTM performance by Laca for me. A real poachers goal and some good flicks. Always alert and active. Tierney, Auba world class as per usual as well. Good to see Gabriel settle after a shaky 20 minutes or so. A hat trick of assists for Willian as well. Great debuts!
Really? Hate to be a downer but it stuck out to me how poor Laca’s hold up play was today. First touch wasn’t there and some bad passes. He worked hard as always and good for him to score but wasn’t his best.
Agree he looked little rusty today but will get better for sure
I thought Laca’s holdup play was pretty good, actually, and I said to myself after the game he was my MOTM. He put in his usual shift on the press too.
Willian should be counted as 3 assists, no?
I think it works that way in fantasy leauges but in the official stats tally you don’t get an assist for a shot leading to a rebound goal
That’s right. Two assists and involved in a third.
He was brilliant.
Glad I’m not the only one who thought he had a very good game today. My MOTM.
He was very decisive with the ball and his take ons. Hopefully Pepe was watching because if he can make quicker decisions, he could move WIllian to the center of midfield for us and that would really benefit the team.
Willian got 3 assists, not 2!
First time using the dislike button, feels good
I love Tierney
He is the new Nacho
Except he knows how to defend properly.
Are you new? Do you not remember Nacho?
I guess he is, otherwise he would remember Navi aka mister reliable/dependable!!
He is gonna be much better than Nacho , up there with Cold and Maldini
He’s already better than Nach
Me too, delighted for him after a difficult start at the club
Listening to a podcast about his career even at Celtic, he was playing with and reached cult status while playing under injury and to of injections to get through games. A fit healthy Tierney is a absolute beast!
You have to love him. From Auba with his metallic Lambo to Tierney with his Tesco gear bag. He is so relatable, and balances the culture of the club perfectly. I wouldn’t change either of them for the world!
Love that performance, love that style, and now we have not 1 but 2 fellows with teeth so bright they could burn out retinas for miles around.
What a lovely way to start a season.
Mohamed ‘J Cole’ Elneny.
Best Egyptian player on the planet
Do we really need Thomas partey having Mo elneny
Hmmm – I suspect Mik and Edu might now be looking around at what the 50m quid could otherwise achieve!
Especially when you consider Partey would effectively also cost us a selection of AMN, Laca, Hector and arguably Emi…
For 50 million I’d rather have Auoar, he’d definitely bring something we lack in the midfield – only Ceballos comes close. Partey brings the same qualities as Elneny does, but Partey offers it at a higher end IMO. Better strength, and slightly more clinical also.
Good start! looked confident throughout and looked like they knew what they were doing. Fulham were pretty atrocious but you have to put the chances away and we did that well. Given Emi wasn’t on the bench I guess that’s him gone, which is a shame.
A fine sunny Saturday afternoon on the Thames… however, the one greyish cloud was the number of crosses that managed to fizz, un-policed, across our 6-yard box. A better attacking force would surely have converted at least one of them.
Nice to see Ceballos’s icon has gotten over its bout of jaundice this year! Love the Willian one though!
I like Gabriel’s overall too, but that hairline is being pretty kind to him
Now if you can get rid of Bellerin’s topknot…
I wonder if Arseblog gets these from the dude that calls himself “a poorly drawn Arsenal” hahaha
Wish I could recall the commenter who ranted on about Willian’s supposedly meager goal/assist output at Chelsea. 2 assists, directly involved in all 3 goals and hit a post. Monster debut. Great game all, and more of the same, please.
Is it me, or does Lacazette look a few steps sharper already this season? Even though his work rate was exceptional, he did look like he was running through treacle at times last year.
Don’t think so. Counted atleast 5-6 times where he couldn’t run for the ball which any other ordinary striker would have. Stamina down in the drain.
While his hold up play was decent today, he was still really slow to the ball and with it in possession. He gave up on AMN’s cross which should have resulted in a good scoring chance or corner. He was a 6 to 6.5 for me today.
Was pretty sure Willian assisted all three. Oh well.
I think they might have discounted the one that took a deflection before it reached Lacazette.
*three assists (:
Would be very surprised if fulham avoid relegation this season, so dont want to get too carried away. But having said that, you can only beat who is put in front of you. Would have taken 3 goals and a clean sheet before kick off. Gabriel looked very solid at the back, would love to see him in a back 4 with willian played at number 10 and pepe on the right.
Watford also got relegated last season and we all remember which team they defeated. Just relish the win
I see your point with back 4.
But if we win with 3?
Everything in life seems brighter when they win. Loved the second half. First half was a bit rusty and Gabriel at times seemed to be tacking cues from Mustafi. In the second half, though he was great. Thank you for this Arsenal. Makes up for the Raptors losing yesterday.
I think that first big mix-up was Leno shouting for Gabriel to take it and Gabriel thinking he said to leave it. I hope that was it–not an error in judgment or misplaying a pass. In any case, after that and giving up a dangerous free kick, he was very good and clearly more confident every minute. I also thought Holding (who I probably rate lower than most people, though I always love his attitude) played better than I can remember. Maybe that’s just Fulham, but still very hopeful.
The fella arrived in the country only just in time to make the team bus, for Pete’s sakes!
A few days training in a foreign language and different country… press-ganged into matchday squad at the last minute… an understandable second of confusion, after which he stood very, very tall – credit where it’s due!
I like house Gabriel M’s avatar has pronounced dentition.
I like how Gabriel M’s avatar has pronounced dentition.
I love this winning feeling, its feels so good ???
I love the Spurs fella who came here to down vote all comments.
All or Nothing…
Agree with all the ratings, but not sure about Hector. Overall he was good, but his crossing could be much, much better, and made a poor rugby tackle which was thankfully outside the box.
Sell maybe?
Agreed Cygan. His 1v1 defending today was really poor. Mitrovic turned him and got a shot off at the top of the box and all Hector did was pull his jersey as he spun past him. He did a lot of good things up the pitch, but needs to tighten up his defending quite a bit.
overall he was average at best. nothimg delivered upfront, crossing nonexistant. left wanting at the back on couple of ocasions and played overall with a vigour of a cashier at Tesco. But yhanks to the pass he played which.led to assist has earned him 8 from Blogs ? if thete is any consistency to blogs rating than Elneny should have got 16 and Tierney at.least 22 ?
from all our players that can attract funds Hector should be the first pick when deciding on whom to cash in.
Glad we didn’t have to wait months for the new season as we normally do and nice to see the new (and returning Elneny) players in right away. Gabriel looked a bit nervous at first (who wouldn’t be), but definitely looked like he belonged and showed how strong an on the ball defender he is as a center back plus so dominant in the air. He’s still young and will have his ups and downs, but first impressions are we have a great signing in him. Of course great to see William in our uniform after watching him go against… Read more »
Elneny – LANS
I don’t care that it was Fulham, we looked great! Don’t like the fighting at the beginning but boys will be boys; needs to be handled though. Everyone seemed to work hard on both sides.
Solid W away is a fantastic way to start this season, especially with all the new faces involved.
Yes! Very well played Arsenal.
Ceballos scares me…really good scare! ?
I think he raises to all MA mind games!
Mikel is a true motivator
Our squad depth with auoar or partey or both will be frightening..
We would already be champions league quality
Auoar is must.buy partey if we manage to clear guendoizi and troreira(ignore typo?
Why not just fix it? There are four names names and three are spelt wrong.
Lazy af
Never understood why Elneny went on loan last season. He is a solid 7/10 performer, and never lets the team down. We were left with no midfield once Torreira lost form, and Xhaka had a meltdown. Good to see him back.
I thought Elneny was going to be “the next Day Parlour” with his work rate. Wenger seemed to be high on him. Under Emery, Elneny seemed like he lost confidence. Great to see him back in the team
Elneny is a very useful squad player to have.
Fuck it. I just gave everyone a 10!
Good start to season. Like the organic improvements, most pleased by defensive shape. New players did well and team seems to be clicking bar a couple of outstanding needs 1) Leno – As mentioned, I have no problem with us selling on Martinez. Leno today again remonstrated his qualities being alert early on to snuff out a miscommunication on Gabriel Mangalahes part. Wasn’t particularly troubled today (do not remember them registering much of a shot) but felt his footwork was good and distribution from back decent. If we should sell Martinez then I would prefer we give one of Macey… Read more »
And so it begins… (sigh)
THAT defence-splittng pass from Bellerin to Auba in the 2nd half……..boy??!! COYG❤
THREE assists for Willian. Not two.
My bad. Looks like others pointed it out and got put in their place.
Love Gabriel’s avatar ?
that one from willian is also on point!?
Day 1 and we start with the inevitable question: Where was Ozil?
Yawn
Errm… scroll up mate. I think you’ll find you’re perched on a rather lonely, windy ledge there?
The ratings were generous, but it did feel good to win one so comfortably. AMN had only a fair game for him, I thought. Willian justified his selection, and Pepe looked lethal after he came on too. Great outing for the team. Who knew Rob was such a classy forward? I don’t know what Arteta’s telling these guys, but their positioning is so much better than it was under Emery. If you’re in the right place nearly all the time, it’s not as important to have great pace. Elneny and Xhaka wouldn’t be an ideal pairing against a lot of… Read more »
Rob Holdinho!! Really solid to start the season. Here comes the hope again…
Nice display keep it up guys.
But we need creative in the midfield please our board should do what ever to get creative in the team
All the boys were great. Fantastic to see us playing as a team. Well done Arteta
Welcome Gabriel Here’s to a brilliant Season
It’s not a case of “it’s only Fulham”, but it’s important for some not to overhype. We can still be very happy: win,3 goals, clean sheet and good performances. Bring on the next game.