By Pedro Ayobami
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Arsenal’s Premier League title aspirations suffered a setback on Sunday as they were held to a 1-1 draw by London rivals Fulham at Craven Cottage. Raúl Jiménez’s early strike for the hosts was cancelled out by William Saliba’s equalizer for the visitors at the start of the second half.
The result left Arsenal second in the table on 29 points, ahead of third-placed Chelsea’s late game against Tottenham Hotspur. Fulham, who also thwarted Arsenal both home and away last season, have now lost only one of their last seven league games and sit 10th in the table on 23 points.
“We dominated most of the game… It’s frustrating not to win,” Arsenal captain Martin Ødegaard told Sky Sports. Ødegaard’s sentiments were echoed by his teammates, who were left ruing their inability to capitalize on their dominance.
Arsenal had almost complete control of the ball in the first 10 minutes, but Jiménez stunned the title-chasers in the 11th, racing away down the right and firing right-footed across goalkeeper David Raya into the far corner.
Declan Rice nearly scored a mirror-image goal for Arsenal at the other end midway through the half, controlling a pass from Leandro Trossard only to strike his left-footed volley just wide of Fulham keeper Bernd Leno’s far post.
Despite having almost 75% possession in the half and four corners compared with none for the hosts, Arsenal were unable to break through Fulham’s disciplined defence. Saliba levelled for Arsenal shortly after the interval from point-blank range, poking the ball in when Kai Havertz headed it back down into his path from a corner.
Arsenal thought they had won it in the 88th minute when Bukayo Saka headed the ball in from close range, but the goal was ruled out by the video assistant referee for an offside in the buildup.
Fulham remain unbeaten in their last nine London derbies in the league, their best such run since 2000-2001. “They’re a good team and they know how to defend. But we didn’t do enough today. We have to learn from that and make sure we strike back in the next one,” Ødegaard said.
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