Report: Fulham 0-3 Arsenal (inc. goals)

Result: Fulham 0-3 Arsenal
Competition: Premier League
Date: 12 March 2023
Venue: Craven Cottage

Arsenal: Ramsdale, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Partey, Xhaka, Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli, Trossard

Subs: Turner, Holding, Tomiyasu, Tierney, Jorginho, Vieira, Smith Rowe, Nelson, Jesus

Arsenal eased to a 3-0 win against Fulham at Craven Cottage to restore a five-point advantage at the top of the Premier League.

Leandro Trossard starred with a hat-trick of assists in the first half teeing up headers by Gabriel Magalhaes and Gabriel Martinelli before captain Martin Odegaard got in on the act.

Knowing the game was won, the Gunners were more conservative after the break but there was one last roar from the travelling Gooners who were overjoyed to see Gabriel Jesus make his return to action after a three-month layoff.

Pre-game

Mikel Arteta made five changes from the side that started the 2-2 draw with Sporting Lisbon but the big talking point was Gabriel Jesus’ return to the matchday squad. Three months after undergoing surgery on a knee injury picked up at the World Cup, the Brazilian took up a place amongst the substitutes. The attack was further bolstered by the return of Leandro Trossard – the Belgian limped off a week ago against Bournemouth with a groin problem – and Martin Odegaard, who had been struggling with illness during the week. Aaron Ramsdale, Gabriel Magalhaes and Thomas Partey further reinforced the spine after being rested on Thursday. In addition to Jesus, the likes of Smith Rowe, Vieira and Jorginho made up a strong bench.

First Half

This was not a match that either side started with any urgency but after some drab early sparring something clicked for Arsenal who took the game by the scruff of the neck and put it to bed with a stunning 30 minutes of football.

16 minutes were on the clock when the Gunners produced their first flowing move of the afternoon. Martinelli on the left played a neat give-and-go with Xhaka, darted into the box, forced Leno into a save and the rebound came off Robinson who inadvertently diverted into his own net. The players celebrated thinking they had an opener but VAR decided the Brazilian had been marginally offside. Arteta greeted the bad news with shouts of encouragement for his team.

After that, there was no stopping us. With our next attack, Xhaka found himself in the box and fired low at Leno forcing another save. A series of corners followed and at the third time of asking, Trossard found an Arsenal head; Gabriel climbing highest to power home. After being mobbed by his teammates, the centre-back jogged to set piece coach Nicholas Jover to say thanks for his training ground input. (GOAL 1-0)

Martinelli, Odegaard, Saka and Trossard started to enjoy themselves forming little triangles all over the pitch and more and more space emerged. Saliba, out of nowhere, carried the ball forward and fizzed over from 25 yards.

We didn’t have to wait long for a second. The Gunners won possession deep in their own half, Saliba swept a pass out to Xhaka and the break was on. The midfielder carried the ball up the field, fed Trossard on the left who dinked to the back post where Martinelli climbed highest to head home from close range. “We’re going to win the league, We’re going to win the league,” sang the well-lubricated away fans. (GOAL 2-0)

Fulham barely offered anything in return. When Solomon curled wide on 32 minutes, manager Marco Silva had a look of disgust on his face. He knew his side was not in the game.

Arsenal continued to create chances at will. Xhaka and Trossard both had golden opportunities to add a third. The Belgian, in particular, will be wondering how he missed after finding himself in space although, to be fair, he had an incredible 45 minutes, which he capped in stoppage time with his third assist.

Partey stole a loose ball in the midfield, Saka worked it to Martinelli and our January signing stood up a cross for Odegaard who had enough time to take the ball down and set himself before powering past Leno. It was his 10th goal of the season. (GOAL 3-0)

Second Half

Unsurprisingly, Fulham were quick out of the traps as they looked to restore some pride. Pereira went close early on and from the resulting corner, Ramsdale had to fist away a cross. In the process, Saliba took a knock to the head from his keeper and required treatment that took the sting out of things for a few minutes.

Arsenal’s task was relatively simple – keep the home side at arm’s length and look to take advantage on the counter as their opponents pushed forward. By the hour mark, there were half chances for Trossard and Martinelli but little more than that. At the other end, Saliba continued to marshall Mitrovic and Pereira fired wildly over.

Martinelli had a shot blocked at close quarters at the end of a flowing move before the Cottagers finally mustered a shot on target on 69 minutes. Ramsdale did well to parry but was something of a spectator moments after when Tosin crashed a header from a corner against the bar.

That spell of pressure was enough to persuade Arteta to switch things up. With one eye on Thursday’s Europa League second leg clash with Sporting Lisbon, he sent on Nelson and Tierney for Saka and Zinchenko. Jesus made his long-awaited comeback soon after, replacing the excellent Trossard, Vieira took over from Martinelli and Tomiyasu covered for White.

In between, Ramsdale gave his defence a barracking after he was forced into another save and Odegaard picked up a booking for a clever foul on Pereira.

Into the closing stages and Jesus had a fantastic chance to mark his return with a goal but he couldn’t beat Leno after Vieira played him in. He beat the turf in frustration at his rustiness. Odegaard should also have added to his tally but couldn’t keep a shot down after neat work by Nelson.

By that point, the home fans were leaving in their droves, no doubt fed up by the constant din from the away end. There was comedy in the dying seconds as Vieira tripped over his own feet but somehow still secured a free-kick from referee David Coote. Odegaard swung it in but it came to nothing. 

What looked like a tricky fixture on paper proved to be anything but. Kudos to the team, that’s now five successive wins in the league. Keep this up for 11 more games and we’ll be organising a parade around Islington. Onwards.