Nicolas Jove’s slate rescues one point not enough for Arsenal at Craven Cottage

The always picturesque Craven Cottage has been choking Arsenal in recent times. Last season they closed 2023 at Fulham with a defeat… and this time they had to resort to Nicolas Jove’s scoreboard to rescue a point (1-1) insufficient in their attempt to get back into the fight for the title. After four consecutive victories, Arteta’s men ‘fail’ again and are six points behind Liverpool with one game in hand.

Arsenal started the match intensely, giving rhythm to the circulations, suffocating Fulham with pressure… and enjoying several corner kicks that, for this team, are the closest thing to a penalty. However, on the first occasion that the ‘cottagers’ were able to get out, a reborn Raúl Jiménez did not forgive in the 11th minute. He unloaded in midfield, ‘dribbled’ behind Kiwior… and crossed it with no chance for Raya.

Fulham came back on top after finding the goal with their only shot on target in the first half and completely short-circuited an Arsenal side that barely troubled Leno. They began to abuse the area, sometimes with crosses from the side, but they came up against an imposing Issa Diop who reminded us why he was considered one of the most promising centre-backs in Europe when he played for Toulouse.

Victory slipped away by millimeters

The best news for Arsenal is that they started the second half with Martin Odegaard, who had caused a scare just before the break, and quickly found the equalizer, of course, from a set piece. Saliba repeated the goal… but with suspense after the VAR review for a possible offside following Havertz’s offload at the far post. With this, Arsenal have now scored 23 goals from set pieces since Nicolas Jove’s arrival from City.

The draw revitalized Arsenal, who gained confidence and regained their finesse… while Fulham had to endure the downpour that was falling on Craven Cottage. Arteta began to shake the tree in search of victory. But the changes, far from improving the team, caused the pace to decline in the final minutes. Thomas, however, came close to scoring from another corner. corners fc

Fulham seemed to be in a comfortable position… until they were frozen by Saka’s goal in the 90th minute. However, it was again brought to the fore by VAR, and this time the coin landed tails for Martinelli being offside at the start of the play. A tough blow for Arsenal, who once again lost two key points and could lose second place to a visiting Chelsea at Tottenham.