Arsenal played hosts to Fulham earlier this evening looking to bounce back from their humiliating 5-1 defeat at the hands of Liverpool. The Gunners started the match on the front foot and made the breakthrough in the 25th minute courtesy of Granit Xhaka’s smart finish. They kept the pressure on but couldn’t add to their one-goal advantage before half-time.
The second half was more of the same with the North London outfit piling on the pressure, and it paid off in the 55th minute when Alexandre Lacazette scored from close range. However, Claudio Ranieri’s men came up with a quick response through Aboubakar Kamara’s goal.
The Gunners were not willing to go into a dogfight and scored two quick-fire goals courtesy of Aaron Ramsey and Pierre-Emerick Aubamyenag’s goals. The match ended 4-1 in favour of the home team.
Let’s take a look at how each Arsenal player performed during the match against the Cottagers.
GK: Bernd Leno – 6/10
The German keeper pulled off some amazing saves to keep his team ahead. However, he couldn’t do much about the Fulham goal which extinguished his chances of a clean sheet.
CB: Sokratis Papastathopoulos – 6/10
The Greek defender remained calm under pressure and defended well when called into action.
CB: Laurent Koscielny – 6/10
The Gunners skipper started off a bit shaky but recovered well to put in a composed performance later on in the game.
CB: Shkodran Mustafi – 5/10
The German centre-back is getting worse with each game. He needs to get his act straight or else he might be out of Emery’s match-day squad soon.
RM: Ainsley Maitland-Niles – 6.5/10
The Arsenal youngster was a good outlet down the right flank and did enough work defensively as well.
CM: Matteo Guendouzi – 6/10
The French youngster was full of energy in midfield and was always going to go the extra mile for his team.
CM: Granit Xhaka – 7/10
The Swiss international made some good runs behind the Fulham backline and got rewarded for his efforts with a goal today.
LM: Sead Kolasinac – 7/10
The Bosnian was a constant threat down the left wing and played his part in two of Arsenal’s four goals on the day.
RAM: Alex Iwobi – 8/10
The Gunners attacker was one of Emery’s best weapons in the Fulham half. He caused a lot of problems for the Cottagers defence and was arguably the best player on the pitch.
LAM: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 7/10
The Gabon forward squandered some fantastic chances in front of goal but still managed to find the back of the net in the second half.
ST: Alexandre Lacazette – 7/10
The French talent ran the channels well and scored the crucial second goal which put some daylight between the two teams.
Substitutes:
CM: Lucas Torreira – 6/10
He retained possession well in midfield and played some good passes in the opposition half.
CAM: Aaron Ramsey – 8/10
The Welshman came off the bench to restore Arsenal’s two-goal lead in the match.
CM: Bukayo Saka – N/A
Not enough time to make an impact in the game.
