Arsenal clashed heads with Fulham at Craven Cottage earlier today as they looked to secure maximum points from the London derby. The Gunners made a bright start to the game and scored the opening goal in the 21st-minute courtesy of Gabriel’s header from close range. Gabriel Martinelli doubled Arsenal’s advantage just five minutes later with another header. Martin Odegaard put daylight between the two London sides when he scored his team’s third goal in injury time with a great strike as Mikel Arteta’s men went into the half-time break 3-0 up on the scoreline.
The Arsenal players defended their healthy advantage well in the second half and earned an excellent 3-0 victory in the derby.
Let’s take a look at how each Arsenal player performed during the clash against Fulham.
GK: Aaron Ramsdale – 7.5/10
The English keeper made a couple of decent saves at the back and earned an important clean sheet away from home.
RB: Ben White – 7/10
He was solid when defending inside his half and made one key chance from the right flank.
CB: William Saliba – 8/10
Saliba gave a good account of himself on the defensive end of the pitch and was lively on the ball as well.
CB: Gabriel – 8/10
The Brazilian centre-back did what was required of him defensively and scored Arsenal’s opener with a good header.
LB: Oleksandr Zinchenko – 7/10
He made a couple of crucial defensive contributions and engineered one good chance going forward.
CM: Martin Odegaard – 8/10
Odegaard caused all kinds of problems for the Fulham defenders and scored a great goal in the first half injury-time.
CM: Thomas Partey – 8/10
He anchored the midfield with conviction and made some decent runs with the ball.
CM: Granit Xhaka – 7/10
Xhaka was a positive influence at both ends of the field and was accurate with his passing as well.
RW: Bukayo Saka – 7/10
He had a couple of bright moments in the final third but didn’t do enough to register a goal.
ST: Leandro Trossard – 9/10
Trossard was a constant menace on the attacking end of the pitch and has got a hat trick of assists to show for his efforts.
LW: Gabriel Martinelli – 7.5/10
He caused a lot of chaos in the opposition half and scored Arsenal’s second goal with a decent header in the 26th minute.
Substitutes:
LB: Kieran Tierney – 6.5/10
He was solid at the back and made one positive run with the ball.
RW: Reiss Nelson – 6.5/10
Nelson made one key chance in the final third but there was no goal for him today.
CM: Fabio Vieira – 6/10
He added some energy to Arteta’s midfield.
ST: Gabriel Jesus – 6.5/10
Jesus produced a decent cameo off the bench.
RB: Takehiro Tomiyasu – 6.5/10
He defended his lines well.
