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 38 - 57 of 97

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  1. TO THE UNITED FAN (NO.43) THE ONLY REASON YOU ARE­ RIDING SO HIGH.IS THE MAGNIFICENT WAY, THAT YOU­ CHEAT SO MANY PENALTIES.YOU LOT HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF­ THE WORDS FAIR PLAY.SO WHAT RIGHT YOU HAVE TO COMMENT­ ON REAL FOOTBALL.BEATS ME

    From Peter saint george, on Sat 28 Feb 10:35PM

  2. why care about buying more expencive players they­ already got a world class squad.
    i just think wenger­ needs to change some tactics or something for the team­ to do better
    and finish off their chances better. if­ they can do that they are deffinitely the top 3 team

    From andreysizemin, on Sat 28 Feb 10:21PM

  3. ARSENAL PROBLEM IS NOT WENGER WHO DOES NOT WANT TO­ SPEND.ITS THE BOARD WHO JUST DONT HAVE THE MONEY TO BUY­ 20M PLAYER OR WORLD CLASS STRIKER SO ALL U FANS WHO­ THINKS WENGER USES HIS OWN MONEY TO BUY PLAYERS AND IS­ REFUSING TO SPEND ,THE BOARD IS DECEIVING U BY ALWAYS­ COMING OUT TO SAY THERE IS MONEY FOR WENGER TO­ SPEND.THANK WENGER FOR OPERATING ON A LIMITED BUDGET­ YOU WHEINGING ARSENAL FANS

    From valach, on Sat 28 Feb 9:48PM

  4. lol...really? I found a place that many players are­ hoo king up with h ot mo dels, seems the club called:­ __T all mingle Co M___, do you hear this before?

    From bigtall100, on Sat 28 Feb 9:48PM

  5. arsenal fans dont want to admit the truth we let THenry­ go for money reasons and we havent won @#$% just­ believe we are not good enough we cant beat Sunderland,­ Fulham, westHam, eve Hull did beat us this year so why­ do we expect CL. we dont deserve we must change our­ mangemment structure. AW get a life u economic MBE is­ just theory the real life is about hassling and buy the­ best in the World like KAka, David Villa we have tryed­ u way go away 4 years no cups

    From Paulo, on Sat 28 Feb 9:40PM

  6. aw cant stop proving that is half german, he thinks­ that Ebou n Bendover bendtner can win us a game??? they­ r crab n hey both belong to league 1 full stop, if they­ played for AF or Master Mourinho they could have been­ in the reserve after missing open chances on Tues. why­ play Eboue n Bendover again u r an assle AW just go­ this profits are so small n we cant win @#$%, bring­ Dean ack with uzmanov billions n get Mourinho,,,,

    From Paulo, on Sat 28 Feb 9:15PM

  7. I'm no Arsenal fan but I admire their football and­ I do believe that they have plenty of potential. The­ problem is they seem not to be able to score and that­ is because they lack experience. Their problem is they­ are 9 points adrift from the CL zone and that is a hard­ mountain to climb.

    From Half A Brain, on Sat 28 Feb 9:11PM

  8. Live must be tough for you Arsenal fans. You've­ never had to scrabble around in the lower Divisions­ like Fulham, nor have you ever been faced with­ relegation to the Conference. Fulham's history­ gives our fans a sense of perspective which you lot­ don't seem to have, try a spell in Div 2 (as we did­ in the mid 1990s) and then you'll have something to­ moan about. In the meantime, I hope you will enjoy­ finishing 5th

    From familybowen, on Sat 28 Feb 9:02PM

  9. When did Arsene Wenger become a bad manager? Arsenal is­ having trouble to beat even weak teams, i agree but it­ happens to all big teams all around the world (juve, ac­ milan, barca, real, ajax, bayern, liverpool etc.).­ Every team has a period in their history when things­ seem not to go the way they wish...but, to call for­ Wenger to resign is madness. There is a problem, the­ solution must be found. All we need is support the team­ and be patient. There are lots of lessons we gonna­ learn for next season. We must accept the fact that we­ may be out of top 4. Next season must be different,­ hopefully.

    From guy, on Sat 28 Feb 9:02PM

  10. Fulham!!!!!

    From familybowen, on Sat 28 Feb 9:00PM

  11. i have been a arsenal fan all my life and we have been­ in worse positions in the league than this before, we­ are in a rut at the min, we haven't had a full­ squad all season due to injurys. aw is the best manager­ arsenal have had in a long time and for fellow arsenal­ fans to start booing the team of the pitch is sad. we­ are ment to be surpporters and stick by are club, were­ not even losing games every week. just have faith­ theres always next season and there is clubs in a worse­ places than us.

    From TOM, on Sat 28 Feb 8:54PM

  12. Whats actually ENGLISH about English football anymore?­ ­ Foreign Owners -players-managers...........Arsenal­­ being the worst 1st and 2nd team looks like the­­ foreign legion and selling their name of their new­­ stadium instead of naming it after a former­­ player...etc... anyway COYS

    From limo1wales L, on Sat 28 Feb 8:44PM

  13. tommihew - don't talk such rubbish, Are you a­ woman??

    From Mike S, on Sat 28 Feb 8:30PM

  14. Half of Arsenal team suppose to be playing in reserve­ team. AW believe he is building for future,what a joke.­ When that time come the players will be playing for­ another team with bigger weekly wages. Goner to­ oblivion.

    From cynthadel, on Sat 28 Feb 8:24PM

  15. Comment Henry.PEOPLE SHOULD STOP THIS NONSENSE OF­ ASKING FOR MOURINHO TO REPLACE ANY TOP MANAGER IN­ EPL.HAVE PEOPLE SO SOON FORGOTTEN THAT MOURINHO WAS­ LOSING MATCHES JUST BEFORE HE WAS SACKED AND ANYTIME HE­ LOST HE BLAMED REFS AND OTHERS.HAS HE EVER MANAGED A­ TEAM WITH A LIMITED BUDGET OR A TEAM WITHOUT SO MUCH­ WEALTH?LOOK AT THE PERFORMANCE OF INTER AGAINST MAN U­ IN CL AT HOME.

    From valach, on Sat 28 Feb 8:21PM

  16. Just rubbish again 4th spot no chance!!

    From tc, on Sat 28 Feb 8:20PM

  17. What's it like to Score a goal ? By tomorrow night,­ Villa will be 8 points clear of you, and 2 of your last­ 3 games are against top 4, Chelsea and Man U.

    Everon­ are a better bet for 5th.

    Perhaps you should get­ Mourinho, before Chelsea do !!

    From un_too_slow, on Sat 28 Feb 8:16PM

  18. Shame on us (Arsenal). By the way does wenger read­ these messages? The guy who is good on selling players­ even when he is supposed to keep them. Viera, Kanu,­ Thiery. Yet he struggles and bargains even to buy good­ player. Afraid of buying world class. Lets call­ Mourinho, he is the best guy. He is always thinking of­ one thing "Winning" and a draw to him is a­ loss

    From Henderson, on Sat 28 Feb 8:06PM

  19. Im a united fan an i must agree that wenger needs to­ go. He keeps using the same excuses infact he doesnt­ really have a valid reason. The first step to solving a­ problem is admitting it, which wenger still refuses to­ do.
    He keeps putting his faith in young unexperienced­ players which are constantly proving to him they cannot­ pay the faith. I used to fear arsenal.... not anymore­ :(

    From dylan, on Sat 28 Feb 7:53PM

  20. Wenger is not the problem, Our problem is that we are­ in transition. Some of you so called Gooners should be­ able to see it, as clear as i do. We dont have a right­ to the trophy, we have to earn it and Wenger has done­ it before so he can do it again. Patience is what is­ required.

    From Tom, on Sat 28 Feb 7:51PM
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