As the final whistle blew for this frantic, fiery and downright absurd win over Fulham, Arsenal’s resident DJ pressed the game.
The first song on his post-game playlist? Tequila, and before long the Emirates were bouncing to the sound of an old classic. One they have adapted in honor of William Saliba.
For perhaps the first time this season, however, the French defender had played in the shadow of his centre-back partner. This was an evening that belonged to Gabriel Magalhaes. Finally, for the right reasons, after heading home a late winner that keeps Arsenal’s record 100 percent and keeps Mikel Arteta top of the table.
Arsenal defender Gabriel made up for a shocking mistake to score the winner against Fulham
Gabriel redeemed himself with a scrambled finish from close range in the 85th minute
DATA OF THE MATCH
Arsenal: Ramsdale, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tierney (Nketiah 61), Elneny, Xhaka, Saka Odegaard (Holding 90), Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus (Tomiyasu 89).
Subs not used: Smith Rowe, Cedric, Vieira, Sambi Lokonga, Alencar, Turner.
Reserved: White, Gabriel Jesus.
Goals: Odegaard 64, Gabriel 86.
Fulham: Leno, Tete (Mbabu 79), Adarabioyo, Ream (Stansfield 88), Antonee Robinson, Reed, Joao Palhinha (Chalobah 88), Reid, Andreas Pereira (Diop 79), Kebano (Cairney 69), Mitrovic.
Subs not used: Rodak, Duffy, Francois, Harris.
Reserved: Joao Palhinha, Antonee Robinson, Reid.
Goals: Mitrovic 56.
This: 60,164
Ref: Jarred Gillett (Australia)
For a while, though, it looked like their mistake would cost them both at Arsenal. Ten minutes into the second half, the Brazilian pulled his shirt over his face – as the impact swept across the site – after Aleksandar Mitrovic had pocketed and opened the door for Fulham achieve a remarkable victory. It was a funny thing. From Bukayo Saka’s pass through his own box, to Gabriel’s clumsy footwork and Mitrovic’s steal.
Alas, the lead only lasted eight minutes, before Martin Odegaard’s deflected equalizer put a late siege on the Fulham goal. The resistance of the visitors ended with the most agricultural assault. With five minutes left to play, a corner was kicked towards the first post, where Bernd Leno – from this parish until recently – was surrounded. The goalkeeper tried to clear it, failed, the ball fell to Gabriel, who was left with an open goal. So the 100th Premier League game of Arteta’s tenure ended with win number 53. Not many have felt this significant.
No wonder this place came back to life. From the dugout, Oleksandr Zinchenko was more bewildered than most, and it was assumed he was injured.
“I am very happy with the performance, the attitude and the mentality,” said Arteta. “We made a mistake… it’s about how you respond to that and I’m very happy. It’s not a coincidence because Gabi has changed his mentality and the way he approaches every day is different than a year ago.
Arteta added: “What is most important in his life, apart from his young daughter and his family (is) the consistency he is every day in his habits and what he really wants to become one of better”.
Aleksandar Mitrovic fired Fulham into the second half at the Emirates on Saturday
Gabriel lost possession on the edge of the box to allow Mitrovic to fire the visitors ahead
Even so, however, let the post-mortem of this match show that there were two sides to it and to ignore Fulham would be to overlook a performance of grit, tenacity and tactical intelligence that Marco Silva felt deserved more. And he’s probably right.
Yes, they have spent much of those 90 minutes without the ball, betting on creating some chances and converting enough to score something. But this simple plan almost paid off.
After this first defeat of the season, Fulham will rue a few accidents that proved costly. Andreas Pereira was left free in the area when Neeskens Kebano tried to square the ball, only to kick it with his right foot and go down.
Then, at 1-1, Aaron Ramsdale saved Mitrovic’s powerful header before Ben White blocked a follow-up shot. Fulham demanded handball and a penalty, to no avail.
Even at 2-1, they could have done something. But again Ramsdale was on hand to save from Nathaniel Chalobah.
The goalkeeper stood tall when Arsenal needed him. Odegaard was also excellent, and Eddie Nketiah made a real difference off the bench.
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard equalized with a deflected strike in the 64th minute
Boss Mikel Arteta is celebrating after Arsenal maintained their 100% start to the season.
This win was particularly satisfying because, for the first time all season, Arsenal faced real adversity. And for the first time they were missing key players: both Zinchenko (knee) and Thomas Partey (thigh) were ruled out through injury.
This at least provided a first chance for Kieran Tierney to remind supporters why he was such a crucial part of this side before he stepped out of the shower towards the end of last season, tweaked his knee and started another spell with injury .
Last night, he returned to left-back, a role that has changed rather quickly since he vacated it. Zinchenko’s arrival has ushered in a new era where full-backs must double as creative midfielders. That doesn’t look like Tierney’s bag, but there he was, tucked in, looking to direct play alongside Mohamed Elneny. Is it the best use of your tenacity and energy? Probably not. Does he offer the same cunning as Zinchenko? On this evidence, definitely not. It came off after an hour when Arteta sent on Nketiah and Arsenal pressed for a winner. It took a while to arrive.
When he did, Gabriel dropped to his knees and looked up at the sky. Around him, they sang about Saliba and being head of the league.
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