Arsenal entertained Fulham at the Emirates Stadium earlier today as they hoped to secure maximum points in the London derby. Both sides fought tooth and nail in the first 45 minutes but struggled to find the cutting edge in the final third as they went into the half-time break with a goalless scoreline.
The Cottagers got their noses ahead in the 59th minute courtesy of Josh Maja’s penalty. However, Mikel Arteta found a late equalizer via Eddie Nketiah’s finish in injury-time as the contest ended 1-1 with both London sides sharing the points.
Let’s take a look at how each Arsenal player performed during the match against the Cottagers.
GK: Mathew Ryan – 6/10
Ryan was hardly tested during the game and couldn’t do much to prevent Josh Maja from scoring from the penalty spot in the second half.
RB: Hector Bellerin – 6/10
The Spaniard kept a good shape at the back but struggled to influence the game in the final third.
CB: Rob Holding – 6.5/10
Holding dealt with mostly everything that Fulham threw at him on the defensive end of the field. He cleared his lines when needed and did enough to neutralise the threat of Ivan Cavaleiro.
CB: Gabriel – 5/10
The Brazilian defensive ace was strong in the air but was guilty of giving a penalty in the second half after catching Lemina with a reckless challenge.
LB: Granit Xhaka – 6.5/10
The Swiss international got stuck in with some hard tackles and did a good job defensively. However, he offered very little in the Fulham half.
CM: Mohamed Elneny – 6/10
He made a couple of important interceptions but ran out of gas and got replaced in the 68th minute.
CM: Dani Ceballos – 7.5/10
The Spanish midfield ace did a good job shielding his teammates at the back. He earned the ball back a couple of times and was also lively on the ball. Ceballos created some promising openings for others around him in the attacking third and was arguably Arsenal’s best player on the field today.
RM: Bukayo Saka – 7/10
Saka was always willing to go on a few encouraging runs with the ball and even managed to orchestrate two good chances going forward. However, there was no goal or assist for him today.
CAM: Emile Smith Rowe – 6.5/10
The English youngster caused a few problems for the Fulham defenders but didn’t do nearly enough to get himself a goal.
LM: Gabriel Martinelli – 7/10
He deserves a lot of credit for being a constant menace for the Cottagers from the left flank. However, he was not clinical enough in front of the opposition goal.
ST: Alexandre Lacazette – 6/10
The French striker produced a lacklustre display as the focal point of Mikel Arteta’s attack. He got a couple of chances to score but couldn’t take any of them today.
Substitutes:
CM: Thomas Partey – 7/10
He added some energy and steel to the Gunners midfield.
RM: Nicolas Pepe – 6/10
Pepe was unfortunate to see his goal-bound effort get cleared off the line.
ST: Eddie Nketiah – 7/10
He was there in the right place at the right time to score the equaliser from point-blank range in injury time.
