Arsenal 2-1 Fulham: Player ratings
Arsenal have beaten Fulham 2-1 at the Emirates, securing their fourth win of the season and protecting their perfect Premier League record.
Fulham took the lead against the run of play, Alexsandar Mitrovic capitalising on Gabriel's mistake.
Arsenal's heads didn't drop though, and they quickly levelled the scores through Martin Odegaard.
The midfielder's shot taking a deflection and bouncing past Bernd Leno.
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Late on, the man who made the mistake, Gabriel, got the winner from a corner after a scramble in the box.
Arsenal’s league finishes after winning their first four top-flight matches:
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) August 27, 2022
• 1930/31 under Herbert Chapman - 1st
• 1947/48 under Tom Whittaker - 1st
• 2003/04 under Arsène Wenger - 1st
• 2004/05 under Arsène Wenger - 2nd
2022/23 under Mikel Arteta - ❓
👀 #afc pic.twitter.com/i8js871fm2
Here's our player ratings.
Aaron Ramsdale - 8
A brilliant performance from Arsenal's number one, with their former number one in the opposite goal.
Ramsdale made two incredibly crucial saves, one to keep the scores level at 1-1 and one late on to keep Arsenal ahead.
The goalkeeper hasn't been massively consistent in recent months, but was back to his best today and very important to Arsenal's win.
Kieran Tierney - 5
Arsenal missed Oleksandr Zinchenko today.
The Ukrainian missed out through a knee sprain, allowing Tierney to make his first start of the season.
In the Scotsman's defence, he has played very little football since recovering from his injury and the rust was very apparent.
Defensively, the left-back was solid, but going forward Tierney was sluggish and sloppy.
P̶i̶t̶c̶h̶ ̶i̶n̶v̶a̶d̶e̶r̶ ❌
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) August 27, 2022
Just Oleksandr Zinchenko getting involved in goal celebrations. 😂❤️#afc pic.twitter.com/RoVDqXgaDR
Gabriel - 6
A 'yin and yang' game for Gabriel.
His mistake was incredibly poor, giving away the ball to Mitrovic after taking a very poor touch.
However, he didn't let his head drop and got the winner. That goal will be very important for Gabriel, who needs to pick himself up and get ready for Aston Villa.
From despair..
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) August 27, 2022
To jubilation.
Never give up, @biel_m04! 👊❤️ #afc pic.twitter.com/ofZZGFkPaB
William Saliba - 9
What more can be said about William Saliba? The defender is going from strength to strength at the moment, and is showing no sign of slowing down.
Calm on the ball, assured defending and precise passing.
Arsenal badly need to tie Saliba down to a new contract, and his reaction to Gabriel's late winner could be a sign they will not have any trouble doing that.
William Saliba vs. Fulham:
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) August 27, 2022
95% pass accuracy
102 touches
91 passes completed
9 accurate long balls
6x possession won
3 duels won
1 tackle
1 chance created
1 assist
😜
[@Squawka] #afc pic.twitter.com/B9gfm2ZLKk
Ben White - 8
A top, top performance from White, who is excelling at right-back.
While Takehiro Tomiyasu looked nailed on to start for Arsenal, White is simply un-droppable at the moment.
The defender was brilliant going backwards but exceptional going forward too, constantly taking the ball past his man.
The intensity he showed was crucial to Arsenal's win today.
Mohamed Elneny - 5
Deputising for Thomas Partey is not an easy job, but Elneny appears to be a good option.
The Egyptian had a reasonably quiet game today, and struggled in the second half.
He does keep things ticking, and wins the ball back well too. However, Arsenal will be hoping to get Partey back as soon as possible.
Granit Xhaka - 7
Xhaka is in a great vein of form at the moment, and was very good again today.
With the loss of Partey to injury, the Swiss couldn't quite bring the same presence in the opposition box, but still made plenty impact.
Xhaka looks revitalised in his new role, and long may it continue.
Martin Odegaard - 10
Simply sublime, sensational.
Arsenal's captain was the best player on the pitch today, and by some way.
Countless times he sprayed balls into his team-mates, creating chances and developing attacks.
It was the captain who stepped us in his team's time of need, finding the goal to level the scores and push Arsenal on.
With three goals in his last two games, Odegaard seems to have finally found his shooting boots and Arsenal will only profit.
The midfielder takes the man of the match. A special player.
Martin Ødegaard vs. Fulham:
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) August 27, 2022
100% cross accuracy
100% take-on success
91 touches
11 final third entries
10x possession won
8 duels won
5 take-ons
3 tackles
3 shots
2 chances created
2 shots on target
1 goal
[@Squawka] #afc pic.twitter.com/5MYu3LJ5KZ
Bukayo Saka - 6
A slow game for Saka today. The winger had a good first half and had a great chance well saved by Leno.
In the second half he struggled against his opposing full-back, but did get an assist for Odegaard's goal, receiving the ball and turning to create space for his team-mate.
Saka has started the season slowly, but by no means is he playing poorly. Perhaps the most notable thing is Arsenal's ability to win even without their number seven in his best form.
When Saka does find his feet this season, and he will, it will only add to Arsenal's fire-power.
Gabriel Jesus - 7
Some nice moments for Jesus. He was not quite as involved as he has been in recent weeks, but his quality is immediately obvious any-time he touches the ball.
With the way Jesus has started his Arsenal career, he can afford a quieter day every now and then.
Arsenal remain the only team to maintain a 100 per cent win record in the Premier League following the first four rounds of fixtures this season. 🤩 #afc pic.twitter.com/0KUgUR51Fr
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) August 27, 2022
Gabriel Martinelli - 6
A pretty tough day for Martinelli against his opposing full-back, who often got the better of him.
He went close with a nice shot towards the latter stages, and was his energetic self.
His delivery, normally exceptional, was quite poor today. A couple of free-kicks were massively overhit and his corners found Leno more times than they should have.
However, the all important corner came for Gabriel's winner, and the delivery was perfect.
Substitute
Eddie Nketiah - 8
Mikel Arteta said post-game that he looked in Nketiah's eyes and saw he was: "ready for a fight."
That certainly showed on the pitch too, it was a substitute that frankly changed the game.
Mikel Arteta on Nketiah: “It’s not as simple as that [just bringing a striker on], it’s what we’ve practiced, the variety of formations we can use, how we can make each other better, attack different spaces. Then you look in his eye & you say, ‘He is ready for a fight’.” #afc
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) August 27, 2022
The striker has developed such a physical skill-set, being able to create chances by just using his body to turn defenders.
He had a few chances that didn't quite find the net, but it was Nketiah's hunger and desire to get Arsenal into the game, that inspired his team-mates to follow suit.
Nketiah has definitely earned the right to be in the conversation for a place in the starting XI.
Topics: Arsenal, Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard, Eddie Nketiah, Premier League, Fulham, Aaron Ramsdale, Gabriel Jesus, Granit Xhaka
Evan Lloyd