LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 27: Martin Odegaard of Arsenal celebrates the goal of Gabriel Magalhaes of Arsenal during their sides second goal with team mates during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Fulham FC at Emirates Stadium on August 27, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)
Arsenal 2-1 Fulham – 3 talking points as Gunners remain undefeated
by Adam Schultz
Arsenal continued its undefeated start to the season with a 2-1 win over Fulham. Two second-half goals from Martin Odegaard and Gabriel canceled out Aleksandar Mitrovic’s opener at a sun-soaked Emirates Stadium.
Mikel Arteta was forced into two changes for the clash with Fulham. Oleksander Zinchenko and Thomas Partey were both out with injury as Mohamed Elneny, and Kieran Tierney came in for their first starts of the campaign.
The opening 20 minutes were dominated by Arsenal as, at times, they passed up shooting chances in favor of trying to get the perfect goal as Martin Odegaard was pulling the strings to perfection and was causing havoc.
The Gunners were utterly dominant, but their first shot on target didn’t come until the 34th minute as Bukayo Saka was denied brilliantly by former Arsenal keeper Bernd Leno.
The first half came and went as Arsenal dominated every facet of the game but failed to find the back of the net as they went into the sheds level with Fulham.
The Gunners started the second half similarly to the first, but the visitors took the lead after just nine minutes. Aleksandar Mitrovic hassled Gabriel, won the ball off the Brazilian, and then coolly slotted past Aaron Ramsdale and into the net.
Arsenal wasn’t behind for long as captain Martin Odegaard dragged his side level with his deflected shot just eight minutes later. Saka drove towards the box, and the ball found its way to the Norwegian, whose shot found its way past Leno via a deflection to bring the home side on level terms.
It looked as if Arsenal would have to settle for a point, but with five minutes of normal time remaining, they took the lead. Gabriel went from villain to hero as he took advantage of Leno’s mishap, as he couldn’t get near the corner kick, and the defender poked home from close range to send the Emirates into raptures.
The Gunners held on for the remaining minutes to continue their undefeated start to the Premier League season.
The game provided plenty of talking points. Here they are.
Odegaard captain fantastic
The Norwegian produced a Man of the Match display at the Emirates as he was central to everything the Gunners did well.
His passing was on another level; he picked up little pockets of space in the attacking third and threaded numerous balls into his teammates who couldn’t finish his excellent work.
https://twitter.com/now_arsenaI/status/1563642444717121538?s=20&t=26sS9CqbHfcd6T_GANO0HQ
Odegaard’s ability to create little triangles with Saka and Martinelli, which allowed two v one’s as he made the Fulham defense move out of position all day..
His goal was a little fortunate, but he was great value for it. A true captain’s game from Odegaard as he led from the front with aplomb.
Martin Odegaard was pulling the strings to perfection and was causing havoc.</a></p>
<p>The Gunners were utterly dominant, but their first shot on target didn’t come until the 34th minute as Bukayo Saka was denied brilliantly by former Arsenal keeper Bernd Leno.</p>
<p>The first half came and went as Arsenal dominated every facet of the game but failed to find the back of the net as they went into the sheds level with Fulham.</p>
<p>The Gunners started the second half similarly to the first, but the visitors took the lead after just nine minutes. Aleksandar Mitrovic hassled Gabriel, won the ball off the Brazilian, and then coolly slotted past Aaron Ramsdale and into the net.</p>
<p>Arsenal wasn’t behind for long as captain Martin Odegaard dragged his side level with his deflected shot just eight minutes later. Saka drove towards the box, and the ball found its way to the Norwegian, whose shot found its way past Leno via a deflection to bring the home side on level terms.</p>
<p>It looked as if Arsenal would have to settle for a point, but with five minutes of normal time remaining, they took the lead. Gabriel went from villain to hero as he took advantage of Leno’s mishap, as he couldn’t get near the corner kick, and the defender poked home from close range to send the Emirates into raptures.</p>
<p>The Gunners held on for the remaining minutes to continue their undefeated start to the Premier League season.</p>
<p>The game provided plenty of talking points. Here they are.</p>
<h2>Odegaard captain fantastic</h2>
<p>The Norwegian produced a Man of the Match display at the Emirates as he was central to everything the Gunners did well.</p>
<p>His passing was on another level; he picked up little pockets of space in the attacking third and threaded numerous balls into his teammates who couldn’t finish his excellent work.</p>
<p>https://twitter.com/now_arsenaI/status/1563642444717121538?s=20&t=26sS9CqbHfcd6T_GANO0HQ</p>
<p>Odegaard’s ability to create little triangles with Saka and Martinelli, which allowed two v one’s as he made the Fulham defense move out of position all day..</p>
<p>His goal was a little fortunate, but he was great value for it. A true captain’s game from Odegaard as he led from the front with aplomb.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2022/08/28/arsenal-2-1-fulham-3-talking-points-gunners-remain-undefeated/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Talking Point #2 </a>
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<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 27: Mohamed Elneny of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Fulham FC at Emirates Stadium on August 27, 2022 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by James Williamson – AMA/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>Partey’s absence felt</h2>
<p>The Ghanian was missing through injury, and he was sorely missed. While Mohamed Elneny was serviceable in his place, the Egyptian doesn’t possess the passing attributes Partey has.</p>
<p>Elneny was neat and tidy in possession as he kept things ticking over, but when Arsenal needed that threaded pass or the ability to squirm out of challenges, it was a simple back pass from Elneny to the defenders and the potential move was halted.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mohamed Elneny (#25,🇪🇬)CDM;</p>
<p>♦️ Also making his 1st appearance of the season for Partey 🇬🇭</p>
<p>♦️ Typical performance as his job was to sit @ the base and keep the MF ticking ⌚️</p>
<p>♦️ 50/51 (98%) on the passes, however no passes into the final third show why he’s limited</p>
<p>6⃣.5⃣/🔟 <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2022/08/28/arsenal-2-1-fulham-3-talking-points-gunners-remain-undefeated/"https://t.co/2ovIK9nun8">pic.twitter.com/2ovIK9nun8
<p>— Arsenal Enthusiast+ 🔴⚪ (@ralphalph1) <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2022/08/28/arsenal-2-1-fulham-3-talking-points-gunners-remain-undefeated/"https://twitter.com/ralphalph1/status/1563692115598745602?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>August 28, 2022</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>If the game showed us anything, it was that another central midfielder is needed. Whether Youri Tielemans is the man or not remains to be seen, but the Gunners need a different kind of player to what the Egyptian is.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2022/08/28/arsenal-2-1-fulham-3-talking-points-gunners-remain-undefeated/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Talking Point #3 </a>
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<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 27: William Saliba of Arsenal celebrates the goal of Gabriel Magalhaes of Arsenal during their sides second goal with team mates during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Fulham FC at Emirates Stadium on August 27, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>Arsenal find another way to win</h2>
<p>For the first time this season, Arsenal was tested. Having had everything fall their way in the opening three games as they blew their opponents off the park, Fulham took the Gunners’ best shot and then some.</p>
<p>After going behind thanks to Gabriel’s error which Mitrovic slotted home, Arsenal had to find another way to win. It wasn’t pretty, free flowing football that we had become accustomed to, but more so a willingness to drag themselves over the line.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Gabriel Magalhães has now scored six Premier League goals since the start of last season, no defender has scored more in that time. [<a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2022/08/28/arsenal-2-1-fulham-3-talking-points-gunners-remain-undefeated/"https://twitter.com/Squawka?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>@Squawka] <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2022/08/28/arsenal-2-1-fulham-3-talking-points-gunners-remain-undefeated/"https://twitter.com/hashtag/afc?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>#afc</a> <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2022/08/28/arsenal-2-1-fulham-3-talking-points-gunners-remain-undefeated/"https://t.co/ubRThaYOXC">pic.twitter.com/ubRThaYOXC
<p>— afcstuff (@afcstuff) <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2022/08/28/arsenal-2-1-fulham-3-talking-points-gunners-remain-undefeated/"https://twitter.com/afcstuff/status/1563628796187639808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>August 27, 2022</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>It does show that this Gunners team can win ugly, which is a sign from every good team. With Fulham sitting with essentially two low blocks of four, Arsenal had to dig deep to find a winner.</p>
<p>The win shows maturity in the group as when things weren’t going their way, they still found a way to win.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">
