Match Review: Fulham 1 – 3 Arsenal

Arsenal fans demanded Arsene Wenger to get new players to the club before the Fulham match.

Quite a few horror stories start with ‘it was raining heavily’, and this one did too. The only difference was that this one was in the middle of the day and Fulham were subjected to most of the horror.

Arsenal took on Fulham at Craven Cottage, which is certainly not famous for its drainage facilities. Arsenal had just beaten Fenerbahce in midweek, almost confirming their ticket to their Champions League group stage, and Fulham were off to a running start to their Premiership campaign, beating Sunderland away last weekend with a lone goal.

Both teams needed to win this one, especially with the absurd jinxes that they were certainly informed about before kick-off. Fulham haven’t won their first two fixtures since 2000-2001, when they went on to win the ensuing nine as well.

Arsenal, on the other hand, haven’t lost both their opening fixtures since the inception of the Premier League, 21 years ago. Arsene Wenger was under tremendous pressure going in to the fixture, after fans had taken to incredulous chants of ‘Spend’.

Martin Jol has had his moments with Wenger, dating back to the time he was in charge of Tottenham Hotspur. He was still in two minds if Scott Parker and Darren Bent were up for challenge. Their win at Sunderland cannot be considered a benchmark, as the Black Cats were better in terms of possession and presence.

Jol was all praises before the fixture, stating that he didn’t see any problems for Arsenal at the moment, given their recent romp. This fixture was going to be litmus test for both parties.

Squads

Arsenal had only added to their woes last week after Alex Oxlade Chamberlain joined the long list of players out injured. Laurent Koscielny had suffered a deep gash on his forehead during the midweek fixture in Turkey but he was anyway out serving a suspension for his red card on opening day.

With first team regular Szczesny in goal, Wenger put out greenhorn Carl Jenkinson to replace Bacary Sagna at right back. Sagna dropped to the middle with Per Mertesacker, and Gibbs retained his spot at left back. A heavily reinforced midfield included Ramsey, Rosicky and Cazorla, while Walcott and Podolski were in charge of the attack with the usual lone striker in the form of Olivier Giroud.

Fulham had woes of their own with their newest addition, Maarten Stekelenburg, out with an injured shoulder. Jol put second choice David Stockdale between the sticks, with Riise, Hangeland, Hughes and Riether forming the back line. Kieran Richardson was still out after he picked up a hamstring injury the last time around. Sidwell, Duff, Taarabt and Kasami retained their places, with the introduction of he newbie Scott Parker in the middle. Dimitar Berbatov was the sole striker, with no sign of Ruiz or Bent.