Arsenal 3 Fulham 0
One of Arsenal’s best performances of the season. After such a taxing game in Madrid on Wednesday you’d expect a performance similar to the Newcastle game last week from Arsenal but it was anything but, Arsenal flew out of the traps and got a deserved lead early on as the returning Bukayo Saka rinsed Raul Jimenez on the right and fired the ball across the box for Viktor Gyokeres who couldn’t miss and put Arsenal in front in the 9th minute. From there it was complete domination from Arsenal as Fulham couldn’t get out of their half in the entire 45 minutes, Arsenal did grab a second as Calafiori headed in from a brilliant cross but upon review you could see that the Italian was offside keeping the game at 1-0 but you could feel the second goal coming. The second goal did eventually come as Gyokeres made a run in behind on the right and held the ball up slipping in Saka who fired a shot straight past Leno at the near-post to give Arsenal a well deserved 2-0 lead in the 40th minute, just as the first half was about to end Arsenal finished the game as Trossard worked some space on the left and crossed the ball to Gyokeres who scored an excellent header and put the game to bed in the first half. Arteta made changes in the second half with an eye on Tuesday taking off Saka, Rice, Gyokeres and Eze as Arsenal saw out the 3-0 and go six points clear of City who have two games in hand.
The performance of champions by Arsenal? I’ve been critical of Arsenal this season going forward but I was so impressed with the way they played today, you could see in the first few minutes that something was different in this Arsenal team that they were zipping the ball about with speed and intent which led to Fulham defending basically the whole half. I was really impressed with Lewis-Skelly in the midfield and his willingness to play the ball forward quickly which left Arsenal’s wingers often 1 on 1 with their fullbacks which we haven’t seen enough of this season, the return of Bukayo Saka was crucial as well today and he gave a reminder to those who have been doubting him all season of just what a quality player he is when fit. Then at the top of the pitch you have Viktor Gyokeres who was Arsenal’s best player in the first half putting in arguably his best performance of the season in a crucial game for the Gunners, I think the key for Gyokeres today was getting the ball into him early and Arsenal did that brilliantly today with it leading to the second goal after some excellent hold-up play and pass from the Swede. I’m not his biggest fan but I do love a striker turning up when his team needs him, that’s what Gyokeres is doing at the minute for Arsenal.
Fulham’s hopes of returning to Europe looking slim now. It was always going to be tough for Fulham at the Emirates as their away record this season has been dreadful with them sitting 17th in the away form table which showed today as they absolutely terrible all game, I thought the line up was strange from Marco Silva sticking Harrison Reed in midfield who’s barely kicked a ball all season up against arguably the best midfield in the country which in the end obviously didn’t work for Fulham. The absence of Alex Iwobi has played a huge part in Fulham’s recent dip in form as he’s arguably been their player of the season behind Harry Wilson who’s form has fell off a cliff in the last few weeks, unfortunately for Fulham their away form has most likely cost them a chance to return to Europe this season and I wonder if that means that Marco Silva will leave in the summer after his contract expires along with Harry Wilson. It could be a pretty bleak summer for Fulham if those two do decide to leave.
Mikel Arteta should continue with this line up for the rest of the season. I have the feeling he won’t continue with this starting 11 as Zubimendi will almost definitely come back in on Tuesday against Atletico but why not continue with the 11 that’s just put in one of your best performances of the season? The returns of Calafiori and Saka also played a huge part in Arsenal’s performance today along with Leandro Trossard coming back on the left who hasn’t been starting in recent weeks, Arteta will have a headache ahead of the game on Tuesday on who to pick between Hincapie and Calafiori as Hincapie was excellent on Wednesday at the Metropolitano but I do think he lacks the ability that Calafiori has going forward which adds so much to Arsenal’s attack. I would love to see Lewis-Skelly start in the midfield again but I don’t see much chance of that happening with Zubimendi undoubtedly coming back into the 11 alongside Declan Rice, he’ll have to go with the same front four who all were brilliant today and I do think Arsenal will have too much for Atletico on Tuesday but you never know, Simeone isn’t going to make it easy.
Arsenal are now favourites for the Premier League in my opinion. You really can’t put a price on the last two results in the Premier League for Arsenal after losing to City at the Etihad but they’ve bounced back brilliantly and now sit six points ahead of Pep’s team who have two games in hand, I just don’t see City winning all five of their games which they need to do to have a chance of winning the league this month. Arsenal’s last three games are West Ham(A), Burnley(H) and Crystal Palace(A) which all look winnable at the minute with the Palace most likely having a European final to worry about after that Arsenal game so they might rest players, City last games are Everton(A), Brentford(H), Crystal Palace(H), Bournemouth(A) and Aston Villa(H) with those last few games in between an FA cup final against Chelsea which is going to take even more out of this City team. I just don’t see City winning all those games which means Arsenal will most likely win the league in my opinion, obviously I could be wrong and Arsenal could drop points against West Ham next week but I just don’t see it. What a big result it was today for Arsenal who are edging closer to their first title in over 20 years.