Erratic and with less intensity than its rival, the Arsenal lost this Sunday 2-1 against Fulham and closed 2023 with another puncture, the fourth in its last five Premier League games, to move away from the leadership that will continue to be held by Liverpool when the twentieth day of the English league ends.
Just three days after being defeated by West Ham (0-2), Arsenal returned to the fight. The Premier League does not stop, it is physically and mentally exhausting for the players. One game after another, with hardly any rest.
All for the good of the public, enjoyable during the Christmas holidays, but burdensome for all the teams. And some handle it better than others. Arsenal could have used a Christmas break. He was already showing signs of weakness before the start of the holidays after losing 1-0 to Aston Villa.
They recovered with a victory over Brighton (2-0) and failed again after drawing against Liverpool (1-1). In total, only one victory in their last four games before visiting Fulham. That's why he couldn't fail anymore. Mikel Arteta's men had to win to move into first place in the Premier League, one point above Liverpool, who will play their match of the day this Monday.
Another puncture could worry the 'gunner' parish, with too many shocks in recent times. And, Arsenal, from the start, did not disappoint with an explosive start in which Saka soon opened the scoring after taking advantage of a Leno clearance from a Martinelli shot. Arsenal's two most electric men managed to break down the Fulham defense, which with Bassey in charge would no longer leave their rival many more options.
Even Bassey himself, at half an hour, stole a ball near his area that was key for Raúl Jiménez to score the tying goal. The Fulham center back started the play that passed through the boots of Cairney, who from the left put in a measured cross for the Mexican striker, at will, to score 1-1.
It was a fair reward for Fulham, much more intense than Arsenal and also better in the second half, in which Arteta replaced Kiwior with Tomiyasu to close the hole that the Gunners' left wing had become. It didn't work. Fulham always had one more gear than all the players in the team.
Arsenal and managed to take the lead on the scoreboard with a shot from Decordova-Reid after a corner.
Arsenal reacted with a shot Saka, who sent a shot into the Thames when he was alone under Leno's goal. It was practically the last chance for his team, which during the last half hour hardly bothered Fulham again. He even escaped the sentence thanks to the crossbar (Pereira's shot) and Raya, who with a spectacular dive prevented what would have been a great goal from Cairney from outside the area.
In the end, the universal deluge made an appearance at Craven Cottage and Arsenal drowned their sorrows in the rain. Fulham gave a lesson to Arteta's team, unable to match the intensity of a team that played a great game that certified Arsenal's collapse in a Christmas party to be forgotten: with one more game, they are already fourth, two points behind Liverpool.
EFE
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