ARSENAL vs FULHAM Premier league ⚽⚽

SAT 26 AUG 2023PREMIER LEAGUE

Arsenal 

2

Fulham 

2

Saka (70'minutes pen), Nketiah (72'minutes)

FT

HT 0-1

Pereira (1'minutes), Bassey (Dismissed at83'minutes), João Palhinha (87'minutes)

Fábio Vieira (72'minutes)

Assists

Reed (87'minutes)

Arsenal 2-2 Fulham: Joao Palhinha earns draw for 10-man Fulham away to Gunners

Joao Palhinha scores equaliser for Fulham

Joao Palhinha scored his first goal of the season for Fulham

Joao Palhinha secured a point for 10-man Fulham in an entertaining Premier League draw at Arsenal.

Palhinha's first-time finish from a corner in the 87th minute earned the away side a share of the spoils.

The Cottagers had Calvin Bassey sent off four minutes earlier after he fouled Eddie Nketiah on the counter-attack.

Andreas Pereira got Fulham off to a flying start, scoring after just 57 seconds.

Pereira latched onto a loose ball from Bukayo Saka and fired in a curling shot, with goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale out of position.

Saka equalised from the penalty spot for the Gunners after Fabio Vieira was caught by Kenny Tete.

Nketiah scored Arsenal's second as they came from behind to take the lead, before Fulham had the final word.

Arsenal's defensive frailties on show again

A resilient performance against Crystal Palace on Monday saw the Gunners end with 10 men but all three points; however, they swiftly fell behind against Fulham.

Pereira's finish meant Arsenal became the first team in Premier League history to concede a first-minute goal three times inside a calendar year.

Quickfire strikes from Saka and Nketiah midway through the second half saw Arsenal surge into the lead. After winning the penalty for the equaliser, Vieira found space on the left to drive in a low cross for substitute Nketiah to finish.

Yet even with Arsenal having a man advantage for the closing minutes, they could not see out the game. Palhinha was left unmarked and punished sloppy defending to snatch a point for Marco Silva's team.

In games against Nottingham Forest and now Fulham, Arsenal have conceded in the last 15 minutes of the second half, with the defending that cost them towards the end of last season's title challenge still an issue.

Takehiro Tomiyasu's red card at Palace meant Jakub Kiwior came into Mikel Arteta's home side, with Thomas Partey playing as a makeshift left-back, and it was clear to see the defence was unbalanced by the changes.

After getting into their winning position, Arsenal switched off and were punished.