Arsenal 3 – 0 Fulham – Match Report
We kicked off a massive few days in the best possible way by moving six points clear at the top of the Premier League thanks to an emphatic victory over Fulham.
A scintillating first-half display saw Viktor Gyokeres open the scoring after good work by Bukayo Saka, and then repay the favour by setting up our winger to double the lead.
The Swede then added a third in added-on time at the end of the first 45, and while we couldn’t add to our tally after the break, the healthy win boosted our goal difference and will boost morale as we again switch gears to our Champions League semi-final second leg on Tuesday.
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Highlights: Arsenal 3-0 Fulham
GYOK GETS US GOING
With this game swiftly followed by the visit of Atletico Madrid, Emirates Stadium was hosting two of the biggest games in its 20-year history within three days. But if there were any nerves swirling around our home, we quickly went about showing there weren’t any on the field.
A signal of intent came when Leandro Trossard flashed a shot wide after two minutes, and just seven minutes later we grabbed a crucial early lead.
Saka found himself up against Raul Jimenez occupying an unusual left-back position, and he took full advantage. After twisting him into knots and leaving the striker on his backside, our captain got into the box and picked out Gyokeres who tapped in from close range to hit 20 goals for the campaign.
That settled any nerves lingering around Emirates Stadium, and we kept the pressure up. Two big chances were spurned seconds apart from each other when Bernd Leno dropped a cross on Gabriel’s head, leading to a chance for Gyokeres, but our former goalkeeper made a good save with his legs, before Saka rushed a little and sent the rebound wide.
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Arteta: “The team clicked immediately”
TWO THEN THREE
On 28 minutes, the net was rippled again when the electric Saka once more scampered away from the defence and cut the ball back to Ebere Eze who saw an effort deflect away from danger. The ball was then recycled back to Trossard who stood up a cross for Riccardo Calafiori to head in, but replays showed he was offside.
We attempted nine shots in the opening half an hour, the most we had managed in a Premier League game in two years, and, given our early dominance, our 32-game unbeaten home record against Fulham never looked under threat. But despite that, a two-goal cushion was vital, and having kept banging on the door, it did finally arrive five minutes before the break.
A perfectly weighted pass by Eze freed Gyokeres, who held the ball up well and then threaded in Saka. He cut into the box before clipping the ball inside Leno’s near post to seemingly hand us a healthy advantage at the break.
But in first-half stoppage time, it got even better as we all but secured all the precious points and capped a wonderful first 45. Trossard picked the ball up on halfway and drove at his compatriot Timothy Castagne, and having advanced to the edge of the box, crossed for Gyokeres who gleefully headed past Leno to complete his brace and put us in firm control.
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Lewis-Skelly delighted with his midfield impact
CLEAN SHEET SECURED
Saka was withdrawn at the interval, before the Cottagers showed some fight at the start of the second half, with Jimenez blasting narrowly over from distance before Castagne saw a header from a corner deflect wide. However only some good goalkeeping by Leno denied Gyokeres a hat-trick when he was slipped in behind the visiting defence by Eze again.
With the result in the bag and a massive game against Atletico Madrid just 72 hours away, it was understandable that the free-flowing attacking play dried up somewhat in the second half, but it was crucial that we kept our three-goal lead intact with the title race so tight.
David Raya was called into action for the first time on 72 minutes when Castagne instinctively crashed a shot towards goal before Emile Smith Rowe struck the side-netting. But on the flip side, a fourth goal would have increased our goal difference further, and Calafiori came within a whisker of adding it when his header from a corner struck Leno’s head before hitting the crossbar.
A late cameo by Max Dowman saw him dribble 30 yards before rolling an effort wide of the post while his fellow Hale Ender Myles Lewis-Skelly was excellent throughout the 90 minutes in a central midfield role, helping us to secure a massive victory with three league games left to play.
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Five talking points from our win over Fulham
FACTS AND STATS
We extended the longest unbeaten home record for any side against another in English football league history (P33 W26 D7), winning 13 of our 19 Premier League home games against Fulham. Only against Southampton have they played more home matches in the competition without losing (25).
We were three goals ahead at half time in a Premier League game for the first time since November 2024 against West Ham (also 3), while our expected goals of 2.4 was our most accumulated in the first 45 minutes of a home league game since May 2022 against Everton (3.5).
Viktor Gyokeres became the second Arsenal player to score 20+ goals (21) in all competitions in his debut season this century and first since Alexis Sanchez in 2014/15 (25 goals).
We have won 15 of our last 19 Premier League home games, two more wins and four more clean sheets (11) than any other side in the competition at home in that time.
Fulham have lost five of their last eight Premier League away games (W1 D2) and have failed to score in four consecutive matches on the road in the competition for the first time since a run of seven between January and April 2010.
Bukayo Saka has been directly involved in 150 goals (80 goals, 70 assists) for us in 308 appearances in all competitions. He scored (1) and assisted (1) in a Premier League game for the first time since November 2024 against West Ham (1 goal, 2 assists) and for the 11th time overall in the competition.
Aged 24 years and 239 days, Saka became the fourth-youngest player to start 200 Premier League games, behind Gareth Barry (24y 38d), Wayne Rooney (24y 76d) and Rio Ferdinand (24y 163d).
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Every word from Mikel Arteta’s post-Fulham presser
WHAT’S NEXT
We turn our attentions back to the Champions League on Tuesday when Atletico Madrid head to N5 for the second leg of our semi-final with the score tied at 1-1. Then on Sunday, we travel across the capital to West Ham United’s London Stadium for our next league encounter, which is followed by our final home game of the campaign against Burnley on Monday, May 18.
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