(Football news) With the Premier League title challenge looking realistic by the week, Arsenal knew that they must get the result against Fulham at Craven Cottage and they did just that. Manchester City had secured a late winner over Crystal Palace on Saturday and a victory for the Gunners was essential to maintain their five point advantage over the reigning champions. The league leaders showed just why they could potentially win the league this season with a rampant first half performance, scoring three goals.
Leandro Trossard was instrumental in the goals scored with Gabriel Magalhaes (21), Gabriel Martinelli (26) and Martin Odegaard (45+2) finding the back of the net. Gabriel Jesus provided a boost to Arsenal as well, coming on as a late substitute after returning from injury and was denied a goal by Bernd Leno. Fulham displayed an improved second half performance with Aaron Ramsdale being forced to make a few saves and Aleksandar Mitrovic hitting the bar. However, the Gunners’ fifth consecutive victory never looked in doubt and they cruised towards victory in relative comfort.
Speaking after the match, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said “Really happy with the performance, winning 3-0 away from home, keeping the clean sheet, with the chances we created and the goals we scored. Big compliment to the team because we deserved to win, we played really well. We had a goal disallowed and psychologically we had to come back from that but we kept trying, we played, kept finding the spaces against a really organised team and overall, really happy.
“The way we are distributing the goals is really important. Today, Leo [Leandro Trossard] contributed with three assists and he could have scored two at least as well. It’s good that everybody is willing and has got the capacity to arrive in the final third and create and score goals. There are certain things we practise that are difficult to see in games but today we had some big chances and scored some beautiful goals.”
Arsenal player Leandro Trossard said “When we win we’re always happy. We knew it would be a tough game. We did really well. We kept a clean sheet as well. A perfect win for us. I’m really happy with it [hat-trick of assists]. I always try to contribute. Today it went my way. I’m just really happy we won. Same as last week. Eleven finals for us. We’ll take it game by game. Today we played a great game.”
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard said “We did really well from the start. We controlled the game and scored some good goals in the first half. The second half was a bit different but very good. He [Leandro Trossard] has brought some amazing things to the team. I love playing with him. He’s good at finding the right pass. We’re really happy to have him on the team.
“It was a good ball from Leo over the head of a defender. I kept my composure and put my shot in the corner. It’s a massive boost. He’s been out for a while now. We know what he’ll give to the team. We’re excited to have him back. Same focus. We’ve said all season we’ll take it game by game. We’ll do the same things, keep working hard and see where it takes us.”
Fulham head coach Marco Silva said “Arsenal deserved the three points. Our first half, we were on the pitch but in some moments we weren’t. Too soft, not ready enough, off the ball not aggressive. We let them play the way they wanted. When we play, not just against top sides, but in the Premier League, these types of [defensive] situations make things go against you and that’s what happened in the first half. The second half was slightly different, we created more chances, we were more brave and more aggressive in some moments. At least we expressed ourselves more in the second half.
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