Arsenal’s hopes of winning their first Premier League title in 20 years suffered another blow on New Year’s Eve as Fulham were defeated.
The Canaries have won only one of their last five Premier League games, but opened the scoring when Bukayo Saka scored from close range after Bernd Leno had defended Gabriel Martinelli’s shot. But the hosts fought back and were rewarded for their persistent pressure when Raul Jimenez fired in at the back post to equalise.
Fulham took control after the break when the ball fell to Bobby Decord-Reid after a scramble following a corner and the striker fired past David Ray. Mirror Football presents the five biggest stories from yet another disappointing defeat for Mikel Arteta’s side.
The title challenge is under threat:
In this case, it could be that his team are back on course for the title after defeat to West Ham: boss Arteta hopes a trip to struggling side Fulham would be an opportunity for his side to get back on track. However, the Gunners were far from their best performance at Craven Cottage.
Their failure to beat the hosts proved costly, and they defended appallingly in both Fulham’s equalising and winning goals. Although they are only two points behind leaders Liverpool, it is fair to say that their title challenge is in serious jeopardy.
The Gunners have 10 points less than last season, when they played the same number of games. Liverpool can increase their lead over Arteta’s men to five points with a win over Newcastle on Monday, while Tottenham are only a point behind their relentless rivals with a win over Bournemouth.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta admits the manner of the Fulham defeat is worrying.
Arteta admits the players were very poor in the 2-1 defeat.
He is sad: “We were not at the level to win the game in all 100 minutes.
“We were not efficient enough. We didn’t have enough ball speed, enough movement, enough danger. We gave the ball away ball after ball. We were getting the ball back, but when we got the ball back we gave it away, which is the most dangerous moment to do that. If you don’t have a consistent tempo, if you don’t threaten in the final third and if you concede two goals like we did today, it is very difficult to win the game. We did not deserve to win, that is very clear and simple.
“If you lose games in this league, you lose points. We lost two points at Anfield, but we had a great performance. Against West Ham we lost three points but we had a great performance. Today is a different story. That’s why we feel sad because we were nowhere near the level we need to be in all 90 games.”
He added: “We have to improve. We have to win games, and to do that we have to win games. To do that, we have to do it with players that, after 20 league games, we have a chance to be the best in the league with. They are really good and we will keep working with them.”