IT’S GIFT OF Gunners ace goes from zero THE GAB
GABRIEL MAGALHAES saved his and Bukayo Saka’s blushes with a late winner after their double slip almost proved costly for Arsenal.
Some Gooners will say Gabriel had more than enough time to deal with the ball Saka clipped back into his own area.
And that the second touch that gifted Aleksandar Mitrovic the opening from which he scored Fulham’s goal was well below the standard you would expect from a Premier League footballer.
Others will argue Saka should have gone down the line with the pass in the first place and never put his team-mate in a position to make such a clanger. Probably, they’d all be right.
But thankfully for the pair, captain Martin Odegaard quickly stepped up to fire them level.
And with just four minutes of normal time remaining, Gabriel stabbed home from close range after Fulham’s former Arsenal keeper Bernd Leno failed to deal with Gabriel Martinelli’s corner.
What a blistering second half this was and while Arsenal deserved it for their performance throughout 90-plus minutes,
Fulham deserve immense credit for staying in the game.
And they will have gone home knowing they had enough chances to have won it.
As it was, those goals from Odegaard and Gabriel condemned the Cottagers to their first defeat of the season while making it four wins from four for the Gunners.
No wonder some Arsenal supporters are getting giddy about the squad Mikel Arteta has put together.
Certainly for the first 45 minutes, they were the better side and dominated possession. A good build-up saw Saka and
Gabriel Jesus, who squared up to Joao Palhinha (right) involved – but Granit Xhaka couldn’t get his volley on target.
It was the start of a period of sustained Arsenal pressure and when Martinelli sniffed half a chance, Kenny Tete needed to react well and he did.
Arteta’s men were popping the ball around the Emirates, although not every pass they played was accurate, as Mitrovic could attest after Aaron Ramsdale’s clearance struck him on the side of the head.
The Serb soon dusted himself down and at least it counted as a touch of the ball for the visitors
during a period in which Arsenal were dominant.
Tim Ream’s stretch denied Jesus a sight on goal as the home side threatened again.
And Martinelli’s inswinging corner looked to have caught out Leno but hit the top of the bar and bounced over.
The best chance of the half fell to Saka after he was released behind the Cottagers’ defence.
He decided to cut back inside Tosin Adarabioyo and, after seeing Leno push away his effort, he may well have thought he should have let fly.
It wasn’t until the fifth minute of the second half that Fulham had their first real sight of goal. But even then, when Andreas Pereira’s cross was met by the head of Bobby Decordova-Reid, it was never going to trouble Gunners keeper Ramsdale.
Leno had to react well to save from Odegaard and then Jesus.
What an important couple of saves they proved as Fulham then took the lead thanks to the two lapses and Mitrovic’s good instincts on 56 minutes.
Saka reacted well, though, and nudged the pass to Odegaard that led to his goal on 64 minutes.
Ramsdale then needed to save well from Mitrovic’s header.
And it gave his side the platform to take all three points as Leno failed to collect a corner and Gabriel took the mantle of most relieved man in the buzzing stadium.