After Mikel Arteta’s dream afternoon, Arsenal is once more five points in front in the Premier League.
The Gunners had to come back from two goals down and score in the 97th minute against Bournemouth last week in order to earn three points.
Against Fulham, though, it was an entirely different scenario, as they had the match in hand by halftime.
By that point, Arsenal had a three-goal advantage, and it is reasonable to believe that number could have been doubled.
This was a forceful response to Saturday night’s victory by City over Crystal Palace. Arsenal easily defeated Fulham despite the fact that their lead at the top had shrunk from one to two points thanks to their 1-0 victory.
Arteta even had the luxury of donning Gabriel Jesus for his first game following his World Cup injury since it was so comfy.
Although Fulham performed equally poorly, Arsenal was outstanding in the first 45 minutes. The hosts lacked bite without midfielder Joao Palhinha.
With goals from Gabriel, Gabriel Martinelli, and Martin Odegaard, Arteta’s team fully capitalized.
The first half was summed up by those three goals, which Arsenal scored to punish Fulham for shoddy defense.
Gabriel in unnoticed to head home to Trossard’s corner in the first. In the second, Martinelli capitalized on a Trossard cross to defeat Antonee Robinson at the back-post. Once more, the third goal was scored with a kick from Trossard, but this time Odegaard capitalized by bringing the ball down and beating Bernd Leno.
Robinson, the left-back, had a terrible first half after being worn down by Arsenal’s front three. On the other flank, Kenny Tete experienced the same thing, and both players were fortunate to avoid being caught by halftime.
Arsenal also had bad luck not having a bigger lead. They had a goal disallowed for offside, and Granit Xhaka and Trossard both botched golden opportunities. Leno successfully blocked Martinelli’s shot as well.
At the break, Fulham showed signs of life and at least forced Aaron Ramsdale to make a deft save to stop Bobby Decordova-Reid. A header by Aleksandr Mitrovic also hit the crossbar.
Except for that, Arsenal had an easy time of it, and Arteta was able to empty his bench over the final 20 minutes.
In addition to receiving a rare break, Bukayo Saka also saw Jesus for the first time since December.
Every move he made was met with applause, and he came close to scoring, but Leno made a strong stop.
During a nearly perfect afternoon, it was the only thing that did not go Arteta’s way.