Arsenal 3-0 Fulham: Mikel Arteta’s side dominated their London rivals with a sensational performance to move six points clear of Premier League leaders Manchester City.
Arsenal enjoyed a comfortable win against Fulham on Saturday night (Image: Getty Images)
Arsenal extended their lead over Manchester City with an emphatic win against Fulham on Saturday night.
The Gunners enjoyed a great start to the game with Victor Gokeres scoring from close range. Ricardo Calafioli put the ball into the net again, but his shot was ruled out by VAR.
Arsenal finally had the chance to celebrate their second goal through England star Bukayo Saka. Gökeres then doubled his afternoon’s work with a powerful header before the break.
With the win, Mikel Arteta’s side increased their lead over City to six points. Josep Guardiola’s side face Everton on Monday and will look to close the gap on Sunday.
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Gokeres shape
After scoring the decisive blow against Madrid, Gokeres struck again from the start against Fulham. The Swedes benefited, but much of the credit should go to Saka.
The England winger receives the ball on the right flank, pretends to cross with his left foot and runs inside the full-back.
Reaching the byline, he cut the ball back to an unmarked Gökeres, who smashed it home. Then, just before the break, they got back into the swing of things, scoring a powerful cross from Leandro Trossard.
Gökeres has scored 21 goals in all competitions this season. Considering the criticism he has received, this is not a bad number.
Victor Gokeres celebrates his 20th goal of the season (Image: Getty Images)
Calafioli irritated
Arsenal thought they had further extended their advantage midway through the first half when Saka’s cross again found Eberechi Eze. The Englishman’s shot was blocked but fell into the hands of Leandro Trossard, who curled the ball towards Calafiori.
The Italian player returned home with a great effort. Unfortunately, however, VAR intervened and the match was abandoned. Calafioli was clearly offside and there was a guilty look on his face that seemed to indicate he agreed with the decision.
sensational slope
Saka, who had not started a Premier League game for Arsenal since mid-March, took some time to return to top form. However, he said he did his best against Fulham.
He tormented Anthony Robinson throughout the night and his individual skill was key to Gokeres’ first goal. Saka then praised himself by firing a shot past Bernd Leno at his near post.
This ended Saka’s 11-game scoreless run at the Emirates. If he can continue to perform at this level from now until the end of the season, he will no doubt be able to lead Arsenal to the title.
The only slight concern was that Saka would replace Noni Maduke at the break, but we hope his sending off is just a precautionary measure ahead of the second leg against Atletico Madrid.
Bukayo Saka was back to his best against Fulham (Image: Getty Images)
Arteta follows urban experiment
Manchester City manager Josep Guardiola has a strange habit of turning full-backs into midfielders and vice versa at the Etihad Stadium. It would be no surprise that Arteta would follow suit, having built up his coaching experience under the Spanish manager.
He chose to place academy graduate Miles Lewis-Skelly in the center of the park alongside Declan Rice. And it seemed like the teenager had been a midfielder throughout his career.
He impressively broke up play and provided a valuable shield in front of Arsenal’s defense with his confidence on the ball. Considering this was only his fourth start in the Premier League this season, Lewis-Skelly should be praised for settling into an unfamiliar position so smoothly.
Arsenal take control
With three games remaining, the difference between them and Arsenal is six points. If City lose against Everton on Monday, it would mean the Gunners effectively need a maximum of two more wins to be confirmed as champions.
And the fact that the goal difference with Fulham has further widened means they have another big advantage. Of course, it’s not over yet. It is certainly possible that City beat Everton and are back level on points.
However, it is no exaggeration to say that Arsenal will once again take the lead in the title race.
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