Premier League - Fulham impress as Arsenal draw

Eurosport - Sun, 01 Mar 09:36:00 2009

Fulham held Arsenal to a fourth consecutive goalless Premier League draw in an entertaining clash at the Emirates.

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 Premier League Fulham Arsenal-Fulham Johnson Clichy - 0

Arsenal left the pitch to jeers after a clash that was enjoyable for neutrals but frustrating for partisans, although Fulham fans will have been impressed by their side's organisation and passing.

The hosts had the better chances but both sides could have won a game characterised by slick play from both teams and stout defending by Fulham in particular.

The first half somehow remained goalless despite a frantic pace and attacking attitude from both sides that saw chances traded at will.

Andy Johnson (pictured to the left of Gael Clichy) fired just wide in the second minute, while Samir Nasri went straight down the other end to do likewise.

Johnson had another chance five minutes later but again he sent the ball just beyond the post after a good turn on the edge of the box.

In keeping with the theme of the game, the Gunners hit back and on 10 minutes Robin van Persie forced a superb point-blank save from Mark Schwarzer with a bullet header from Andrei Arshavin's right-wing cross.

Both sides play good football and the end-to-end nature of the match continued with Nasri and Van Persie dilly-dallying for Arsenal when they should have scored, while Danny Murphy, Bobby Zamora and Simon Davies went close for Fulham.

The second half began with Arsenal by far the dominant force.

Nasri had a near-post shot blocked wide after more great work from Arshavin, Van Persie headed over from the subsequent corner and Arshavin had a volley of his own blocked.

The best chance of the game fell to Van Persie on the hour mark when Fulham failed to clear a corner and the ball popped up for Bacary Sagna on the right.

The right-back played an excellent cross to the edge of the six-yard box where Dutch striker Van Persie rose unmarked to flick an angled header past Schwarzer but on to the post.

Fulham had been under the cosh for the first quarter-hour of the second half but after that escape they regained confidence and should have scored themselves.

A 10-minute spell of possession saw Davies, Clint Dempsey and Zamora go close, while Johnson had two superb chances to put his side in front.

The first came when he mis-controlled Davies's ball, which had put him one-on-one with Manuel Almunia.

Then he somehow headed Fredrik Stoor's excellent cross wide after a hypnotic spell of passing from the Whites.

Arsene Wenger realised his side were close to throwing the match away, so brought on Nicklas Bendtner for the anonymous Carlos Vela.

The Dane had an immediate impact, creating chances for Van Persie and Arshavin, while Abou Diaby's header from Nasri's 73rd-minute corner forced a close-range, reflex stop from Schwarzer's legs.

Emmanuel Eboue was inexplicably brought on for the impressive Sagna and quickly showed his lack of composure when he thrashed the ball out for a throw after being put through on the right.

The pendulum then swung Fulham's way, with several waves of attacks culminating in Zamora muscling through the home defence and firing wide.

Arshavin - Arsenal's best player on the day - was denied by another diving stop from Schwarzer and the latter stages saw Fulham keep the ball well.

A lengthy period of stoppage time irked Fulham boss Roy Hodgson as Arsenal threw the kitchen sink at his team but the North London side were blunt in attack as this season's surprise package held on for a point.

Arsenal now lie only two points ahead of sixth-placed Everton, while Fulham closed to within a point of seventh-placed Wigan, who have played one game more than the West Londoners.

Reda Maher / Eurosport

Comment 58 - 77 of 97

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  1. arsen venger
    he spent none of the clubs money
    to buy­ new players,so now he is paying the price of­ failure
    it's not his money,it's the clubs
    spend­ spend spend
    margaret nolan london

    From Margaret, on Sun 1 Mar 7:53AM

  2. hate the yids you are talking out of your hat m8 even­ big frank is wondering if the guy has lost the­ plot
    what about the profits who is pocketing them they­ are NOT being spent on the TEAM building as they­ should!!!

    From Alex F, on Sun 1 Mar 5:17AM

  3. get rid of Adebyor Bentner and Van persie not one of­ them are worth a light not fit to lace Ian Wrights­ boots let alone Henry's denilson must be the worsed­ brazillian player born vela is fecking usless ebuoe­ works fail me he is so bad

    if i can see all this why­ cant wenger !!! what the Bl@@dy hell are the good of­ all these profits??? you wont have profits next year­ but you might find out what a half empty stadium looks­ like

    From Alex F, on Sun 1 Mar 5:14AM

  4. Arsenal fans who dont admit the weakness are the real­ loosers how much longer those excuses of young team bla­ bla AF won the league with kids and kept faith on them­ and look at Juventus they still got DelPiero why not­ keep Henry when Scam have kept all they oldie goods and­ still top??? We must be honest. Drawing, loosing to­ small teams and missing open goals at CL level wont win­ us nothing. MY point is we dont have any real star with­ proven goal record at the high level then we sale­ THenry who scored more goals then IanWright, so who is­ he man for Arsenal?? stop this pressure on Eduardo he­ is not the full fit yet, stop playing EBoue n Bendover­ bendtner! they r crab

    From Paulo, on Sun 1 Mar 3:24AM

  5. 2 words - Thierry Henry!!

    From irishstud, on Sun 1 Mar 2:48AM

  6. Post 65. The award of Greatest manager is history,­ wouldn't go to Arsene 'I love Kids' Wenger.­ You've got Sir Alex, Sir Matt Busby, Alf Ramsay and­ so on. He' good and done well, no doubt, but­ greatest manager in the history of the game? Another­ deluded gooner.

    From Karl G, on Sun 1 Mar 2:42AM

  7. we need to win all the 11games that are left to finish­ in the top 4

    From Omar F, on Sun 1 Mar 1:54AM

  8. Van Persie, Bentner are not what the Gunners need.­ Eduardo and perhaps a humble Adebayor would do much­ good. Alas, Adebayor is not humble, let him go (heck,­ help him out), and get rid of Bendtner. Use that money­ to get ONE good one, like Cavenaghi (Bordeaux) or put­ in a little more money and get Ibramovich from la Juve!­
    The team has a lot of talent almost everywhere,­ except up front, get it and win!!!

    From Patrick F, on Sun 1 Mar 1:42AM

  9. Another Gooner draw. Back to the old Highbury days of­ 0-0 draws.

    Tick-Tock Tick-Tock

    From Edmond Dantès, on Sun 1 Mar 12:49AM

  10. A sexy model is looking for a sports man. Please reach­ me as cadicecc at====== Classy M i n g l e,
    C OM====­ a . Waiting for your msgs...

    From candice_ccee, on Sun 1 Mar 12:47AM

  11. A sexy model is looking for a sports man. Please reach­ me as cadicecc at====== Classy M i n g l e,
    C OM====­ a . Waiting for your msgs...

    From candice_ccee, on Sun 1 Mar 12:46AM

  12. Arsenal are lacking one thing at the moment and thats­ goals, all those chances today eduardo would of put­ away. The man only needs one chance.

    Once hes back in­ the squad the indecisive bendtner and ade can rest­ while van persie provides eduardo with the ammo.

    I­ hope arsenal do not get rid of wenger as i think hes­ doing the best job he can with the players he has­ available, we all get frustrated when the team seem to­ lack effort but we have to be patient. I think the good­ football will come back with cesc and walcot and until­ then we just have to wait

    From Mark F, on Sun 1 Mar 12:31AM

  13. Post 35 - well said mate. Arsenal fans are crying and­ begging for wenger's head when 4 years ago they­ were proclaiming him to be the new messiah. Such fickle­ impatient glory hunting wannabes.

    Post 25 - bitter­ much? Fact is Fulham played in a way that YOU wanted to­ play. We outpassed and outclassed your boys. Well done­ the whites!

    From adam j, on Sun 1 Mar 12:20AM

  14. You so called arsenal fans are a disgrace to the­ club...ie comment 57, how can you call arsenal­ WE....you are nothing to us! How can you insult not­ only the greatest manager in our history but the­ greatest manager ever in football history! You so­ called supporters seem to have a short memory, do you­ forget the invincibles and the genious teams and­ success that arsene has brought to us! A couple of­ seasons of rebuilding and suddenly he's a failure,­ pathetic!
    We do things the right way at arsenal and­ are build a fantastic future without bankrupting the­ club and we're doing it under the greatest­ manager!
    the future is bright, the future is­ Arsenal

    IN ARSENE WE TRUST!!!!!!!

    From hate_the_yids, on Sat 28 Feb 11:31PM

  15. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

    HA HA HA HA­ HA.

    How fickle Arsenal fans are.

    From Andrew, on Sat 28 Feb 11:27PM

  16. omg this is gettin so depressin 2 be an arsenal fan

    From p_reeyam, on Sat 28 Feb 11:11PM

  17. LOL@the spurs fan. How Sad!!!!

    From sadie s, on Sat 28 Feb 10:59PM

  18. just atractive soccer without scoring does not ­ win matches. Its high time Arsenal looked for ­ quality strikers if they want to make an impact ­ in any competition

    From joakim, on Sat 28 Feb 10:54PM

  19. hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa­ aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa­ aaaa can t beat fulham at home muppets spurs will­ show u tomorrow how 2 win something this year as u­ muppet ain t winning @#$% m u p p e t­ s

    From Spurs..xx, on Sat 28 Feb 10:54PM

  20. T Henry was a good player to start with, but when it­ came to the crunch.... he wasnt playing that good when­ they let him go. Arsenal have a young squad. Give it a­ couple of years and they'll be back ontop. All­ these people slating the gunners who profess to be fans­ need shooting. You cant just follow a team cause­ they're the team at the top, you have to take the­ good with the bad. All these people saying oh you let­ Henry go... yeah it was time to let him go. You cant­ run a team round 1 player. Give them time and­ they'll come good again.

    From sadie s, on Sat 28 Feb 10:37PM
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