Arsenal stumble against Fulham after Saka's late goal is disallowed for offside | first division

The good news is that it was better for Arsenal than last season. The bad news is that their winning streak ended at four and they wasted the opportunity to put pressure on leaders Liverpool. And what's worse, the video assistant referee denied them the winning goal in the 89th minute thanks to a tight (but correct) offside call.

Liverpool may feel, with six players injured and Everton beating four Wolves on Wednesday, that the postponement of Saturday's Merseyside derby provided a welcome break before the rigors of the festive programme. However, it also gave Arsenal the chance to reduce the gap to four, which, even having played one more game, doesn't seem as daunting as seven. As it is, the difference is six points and Liverpool has one game less. Everything is yet to come to Arne Slot.

It was this match last season that inflicted decisive damage on Arsenal's title challenge. When the difference with the champion at the end of the season is only two points, all errors are vital, but it was this New Year's Eve match that seemed most significant, all the more so as it came in the last half. of an unexpected 2-0 home defeat against West Ham. That it happened at Craven CottageBut it was worse, if only because Arsenal took the lead after five minutes and looked comfortable before Raúl Jiménez's equalizer and subsequent collapse.

The impact may not be as big this season and given how well Fulham are playing right now, an away win for either team can't be assumed, but even so, it was impossible to avoid the feeling of stagnant momentum.

Arsenal have improved a lot since Martin Ødegaard's return four games ago, but looked in danger of failing again when Jiménez put Fulham ahead after 11 minutes.

To some extent, the damage was self-inflicted when Jakub Kiwior inexplicably drifted towards the ball, offering Kenny Tete the opportunity to slide a pass for Jiménez to finish with authority. Much of that first period went exactly as you imagine Marco Silva planned: Arsenal had most of the possession but created very little.

Sasa Lukic, who operated alongside Sander Berge, was instrumental in this. He is a much happier player out of possession than with the ball, and you can almost feel the relief among Fulham fans when he is tackled, because it means he can continue doing what he does best: diving to win it back. . Antonee Robinson, Fulham's always impressive right back, also had a good game. While others have a tendency to confront Bukayo Saka, he faced him aggressively and had gotten the better of their duel.

Fulham's other success in the first half was nullifying Arsenal's set-piece threat, largely thanks to the way in which Adama Traoré, stationed at the far post alongside William Saliba, was able to intercept his man with a thick forearm, preventing him from running. through the goalkeeper. Maybe your ownership isn't strictly legal, but a lot of what happens on street corners today isn't; The entire 18-yard area has become a vast gray area. Four inswingers before the break, three from Saka and one from Declan Rice posed no greater threat to the Fulham goal than Bernd Leno having to clumsily push the ball away when it looked like it was heading straight in.

But there is a reason why Arsenal fans chant the name of their set-piece coach, Nicolas Jover. The first corner Arsenal received in the second half was not aimed at one of the big defenders but deeper, at Kai Hazertz. He headed down and Saliba, entering the center, took off Traoré and, staying a little inside, scored the ball, Arsenal's 23rd goal since the start of last season.

Fulham, however, held firm, although Thomas Partey headed wide from another corner. Arsenal's threat, however, was largely limited to set pieces. Which isn't really a criticism; Having long been a team that seemed to have to dominate games to win them, they now have a way of winning even when the pace is off, or against teams that defend as well as Fulham did.

And Arsenal seemed to have caught on, a Gabriel Martinelli cross that Saka headed to the far post, but VAR intervened. The Brazilian was just ahead of Fulham's deepest defender. Liverpool's lead remains overwhelming.