Fulham would get worse, much worse over the remainder of a desperate first-half for them, sleepwalking into Arsenal’s aggressive press, surrendering possession in dangerous areas, losing the duels, doing zero as an attacking force. Up until that point, Fulham had been horribly passive.
Mercifully for Robinson, the VAR deemed that Martinelli had been fractionally in front of him on the other side when he began his run and, with the home crowd gleeful, the hope for them was that it would change the dynamic. Granit Xhaka had released Martinelli up the left and, when he curled for the far corner, Bernd Leno pushed the ball out and into Antonee Robinson, who watched it bounce in off him. It came in the 21st minute, Gabriel rising to head home from Trossard’s corner, shortly after Arsenal had the ball in the net only to be denied by an offside spot by the VAR. Fulham put minimal pressure on the ball and a breakthrough goal for Arsenal quickly came to feel inevitable even Fulham appeared braced for it. The numbers tell their own story about Fulham without Palhinha, who has surely been one of the signings of the season.
It was interesting to gauge the tone of Marco Silva’s pre-match interview when he lamented the continued loss of João Palhinha to suspension and talked up Arsenal’s threats – their intensity, their proactivity, how they would do “lots of things we don’t like.” Silva feared the worst. But it was nothing of the sort, their lead over City back up to five points. It was supposed to be one of a clutch of tricky away games for Arsenal over the run-in – the others being Liverpool, City and Newcastle. “We’re gonna win the league,” chanted the travelling fans after Gabriel Martinelli had made it 2-0 on 26 minutes, applying the finish to a lovely box-to-box team move, Fulham chasing shadows.
It has been a stellar season for Fulham – Marco Silva has overseen an unexpected push for European qualification – but they were abject during the first half, pulling up seats for 11 and watching Arsenal sweep into an unassailable lead. It really was for Arsenal here, a victory to respond to that of Manchester City on Saturday not in doubt from the early running when Mikel Arteta’s team made it plain that they would be operating on another level. Craven Cottage is generally considered to be a “good away.” The walk through Bishop’s Park from Putney Bridge tube.
0 kommentar(er)
