Premier League - Arsenal ride luck at Fulham

Eurosport - Sat, 26 Sep 20:05:00 2009

Third-choice goalkeeper Vito Mannone produced a stunning display to earn Arsenal a 1-0 Premier League win away to Fulham.

2009-2010 Fulham-Arsenal Vito Mannone Clint Dempsey - 0

Robin van Persie scored the game's only goal with an exquisite finish on 52 minutes, but the Gunners had Mannone to thank after he made a string of world-class saves.

The 21-year-old Italian was only playing because of injuries to Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski, but made a compelling case for his continued presence in the first-team.

He made an astonishing double save in the 15th minute, when he dived full-length to his right to parry an Andy Johnson header, then recovered quickly to save from Clint Dempsey.

Mannone was again in agile form when Zoltan Gera shot from the right side of the box following a deft touch from Johnson, but the goalkeeper got a glove to it and conceded a corner. And there was more to come.

Fulham had to deal with the early departure of a dazed Damien Duff, who Gera replaced, but acquitted themselves well in spite of the visitors' greater skill level.

Andrei Arshavin made his return from injury for Arsenal and provided some inventive touches without delivering a knockout blow, while Cesc Fabregas was in typically assertive mood.

The pair combined well for Arsenal's best chance of the first half; the skipper found his colleague with a wonderful first-time pass but the Russian shot over under pressure.

The match belted along without either side creating many clear chances, but Arsenal always carried the menace of a side able to cut through their opponents with a moment of quality.

That moment came early in the second half, when Fabregas measured a lofted through ball to Van Persie, who controlled exquisitely, and hit a right-footed snapshot inside the left-hand post.

The Dutchman has plenty of competition from Fernando Torres, Didier Drogba and Wayne Rooney, but it was a goal that showed why an on-form Van Persie might just be the best striker in the Premier League.

Frustrated but unbowed, Fulham continued to pour forward, although most of their efforts were misdirected long shots from Dempsey and Bobby Zamora.

But they forced Mannone into action again on 56 minutes when Zamora found Johnson with a cross from the right and the goalkeeper - who had initially been out of position - made a fine diving stop.

There was nothing the goalkeeper could do when bundled over attempting to clear a corner, but Alex Song was on hand to block Zamora's follow-up shot.

On 78 minutes it was Mannone to the rescue yet again, diving sharply to his right to make a low save from Johnson.

Then, two minutes later, he made arguably the best save of all, a staggering reflex stop to keep out a Zamora header.

Fulham have lost four of their first six matches including two at home, where they were so formidable last term.

Manager Roy Hodgson is not a man prone to pushing the panic button, but there is a fear that Fulham's Europa League exploits have overstretched their compact squad. It could be a tough season.

Arsene Wenger believes his has been the better team in all seven matches this season - including the defeats against both Manchester clubs - but their reliance on a rookie goalkeeper to keep them in front suggests they are not ready to compete for the title.

Alex Chick / Eurosport

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  1. I am an Arsenal fan who used to stand in the north bank­ and considers himself to be an unbiased supporter. I­ have analysed Arsenal and this is the­ situation.
    1.Arsene Wenger does not listen to the fans,­ sells players for a lot but will not buy for the same­ amount.
    2. Arsene Wenger wants to play successful­ football and become a successful manager with average­ players.
    3. Arsenal have been found out because­ talentless players, that is 16 out of the 22 squad do­ not have a footballing brain.
    4. Wayne Rooney is world­ class and has been since he was a kid, the arsenal­ youngsters cannot develop anymore as they were never­ good enough in the first place.
    5. Under Wenger we are­ in trouble, we will come fourth and he will see it as a­ success.
    6. We will win nothing this year or the­ next.
    7. Fabrigas has seen the light and his body­ language suggests he wants to leave.
    personally, we­ have put too much trust into the french napolean and it­ is backfiring, look at the stats, he has been the­ arsenal manager for 13 seasons and 8 out of the 13 we­ won nothing, facts!
    Money breeds success whether will­ agree with it or not. Wengers excuse for not spending­ 30 million over the summer " i did not want­ to!" now you can judge the situation clearly.
    Get­ him out i say and get the board out now!

    From Joseph, on Mon 28 Sep 11:29AM

  2. People did not trustLehman but he was honest when he­ said that Almunia cant ever be as good as him because­ Almunia statrted playing as goalie at 21 years old and­ if u look at the stats Lehman was correct and 100%­ right MAnuel Almunia is not good enough for AfC and the­ bigger the game the bigger the mistakes because the­ just drops is pants to the occasion and statrs making­ silly decision because of lack of confidence, we could­ see the goal in CLfinal but the biggest example was on­ the CL semi last year when CRonaldo realised that and­ he treated him like a biach goalie, its time to go Mr­ AW play the best goal keeper full stop I think he plays­ Almunia to please Cesc FAbs but its enough Almunia does­ not have the focus and ability to handle big games,­ Give Manone a chance and we may win something this year­ how long Almunia bein in Goal?? and no trophies ever­ from this guy VIva Lehman he was honest and crazy but­ was unbeatable...

    From Paulo, on Mon 28 Sep 10:02AM

  3. Who is better in goalkeeping for Arsenal in first­ choice?Mannone or Almunia?

    Mannone better(thumbs up)­
    Almunia better(thumbs down)

    From Kah Wai, on Sun 27 Sep 1:24PM

  4. MANNONE IS VERY NICEEEEE GOALKEEPER

    From fkaqi, on Sun 27 Sep 11:52AM

  5. Lets's be honest and try and put this into context.­ Firstly, this was not a great display by Arsenal and,­ unfortunately at the moment, we are not a great team.­ It is all well and good Mr Wenger saying that he is­ pleased with the shape of the team and their passing­ ability. The harsh reality is that teams such as­ Fulham, and no disrespect is meant to them or other­ teams like them, five years ago, the "big­ clubs" went to places like this and won­ convincingly. In Arsenal's case, this no longer­ happens. They scrape through when five years ago, they­ were winning comfortably. However, the other­ "big" three, still continue to do so, at our­ expense.

    So, where does the blame lie, or, it is­ simply the fact that the other teams have worked out­ how to play against us? Sam Allardyce, when he was­ Manager at Bolton, knew that if his side closed us­ down, Arsenal could not play. It's not rocket­ science, just common sense. I think that it is clear­ that the credit most go to the other teams, in that­ their development has improved whilst ours has not, in­ my humble opinion.

    During this month, we have gone to­ both Manchester clubs and and come away with nothing.­ To be fair, when we played United, we played well, they­ did not. But, and this is the crucial point, United­ took their chances. Great teams still win when playing­ badly!! The performance against City was poor, okay, it­ can be argued that Arsenal were not at full strength­ but, NEITHER were City and they beat us­ comprehensively.

    Finally, let me be clear, there is a­ lot of promise at the club at the the future is loking­ good. That said, as a Club, they have not won anything­ for four years. Mr Wenger has transformation of Arsenal­ is there to be seen, that is without question. However,­ I think he must decide on what he wants Arsenal to­ achieve. Does he want to have a team capable of winning­ the Premier League and European Cup, or, does he want­ to be known as a Manager that develops new talent o

    From martinandsusan59, on Sun 27 Sep 11:29AM

  6. I STILL DONT RATE BENDTNER.HE IS RUBBISH.GALLAS AND­ VERMALEAN ARE MORE DANGEROUS IN OPPOSITION BOX THAN­ BENDTNER.ARSENE SHOULD BE STARTING EDUARDO OR VELA­ INSTEAD OF BENDTNER.

    From valach, on Sun 27 Sep 9:56AM

  7. ///////////MANNONE/////////////THE/////////////////MAN/­ ///////////GREAT///////////////////////////////////////­ ////GOAL//////////////////KEEPER//////////////////

    From Sultan X, on Sun 27 Sep 7:04AM

  8. arsenal the way

    From Christopher, on Sun 27 Sep 7:03AM

  9. mannone the hero..
    but diaby the zero..wtf?
    should­ bring in rosicky from the beginning..

    From kOpisecewen?, on Sun 27 Sep 6:00AM

  10. mannone was awesome today no doubt and as for bendtner­ he's a great pllayer but he just can't­ score.... when he learns to score he'll earn my­ respect!!! oh and btw 3 points are 3 points

    From chaserc4, on Sun 27 Sep 5:28AM

  11. mannone seems to b very ggod....maybe this is the end­ of almunia being arsenals first choice???

    From SarderS, on Sun 27 Sep 5:03AM

  12. its no surprise tht arsenal had a tough at time­ fulham.unfortunate win,precious three point.

    From emir_radyo6, on Sun 27 Sep 3:44AM

  13. Great play from our boys today! They all had a good­ game IMO. The goal was brilliant, and Vito was­ exceptional!

    Finally, resilient enough to win 1-0.­ Rovers next! Andrey to own?

    From BozinT, on Sun 27 Sep 12:22AM

  14. good goalkeeping by Mannone...hope we keep him and that­ we keep this run going...we can sneak up into 1st or ­ 2nd in this form really soon, just wondering why ­ walcott wasnt even on the bench when reports said he ­ was fit....

    From rbrangmanjr, on Sun 27 Sep 12:00AM

  15. if we can win ugly, we are on, this season, Manone to­ replace almunia if he plays like that

    From Rita, on Sat 26 Sep 11:55PM

  16. Ed P, I was answering a question YOU asked. and the­ question was about your hair (or rather the loss of­ it). In these forums you better stay cool or they will­ drive you nuts :-)

    From Half A Brain, on Sat 26 Sep 11:32PM

  17. Half A Brain,

    Wow, such a great comment. Let's­ keep this to football rather than personal attacks­ though.

    I like RVP as a player and would love to have­ him on a squad I support. I just don't rate him in­ the company the author mentioned.

    Comments like yours­ are more childish than my 2 year old's. Let it go.

    From Ed P, on Sat 26 Sep 11:18PM

  18. Arsenal played cr**p and stayed to win ugly­ ,heyheyehheyehey,I would rather have them win like ­ that week in week out.THE ONLY CONCERN IS ???IF ­ ANYONE CAN AGREE WITH ME.!!!!!!!!!Does cesc fab ­ look as if his heart is not there­ anymore?/?/////Can somebody find out ­ pleeeeeeese!!!!!!!!! He almost did the excact same­ at stan/liege ,where he was careless@not the ­ CESC with got to luv and adore. ARSENE beware­ ,this is the guy your trying to build the team ­ around ,BUT really dont blame cesc when your ­ playing with players like diaby@ song,­ bendenar,they make his talent bland.WHAT IS ­ BENDANARS @ DIABY POSITION IN THIS TEAM OF ­ OURS???????????IF YOU HAVE SONG AS THE SPOILER­ OF OPPISTION ATTACKS AND ARSHAVIN AND CESC AS ­ CREATIVE MIDFIELD ALAR GOALSCORERS.why does arsene ­ keep putting these guys ahead of ramsey or ­ eduerdo ,eboue.COME ON YOU GOOOOOONERS. keep ­ winning ugly if need be until we can get our ­ injured players back to help give some respite ­ to the lads who our carrying some players in­ that team at the moment.

    From caxidon2007, on Sat 26 Sep 10:40PM

  19. Mr Chick
    I suggest you look up more stats and stop­ smoking weed
    1) if Man u win 1-0 when not playing well­ its the mark of CHAMPIONS
    2) if Arsenal win 1-0 and the­ GK does what he is paid for we cant WIN SOD ALL

    what­ exactly is the difference?
    and yes Alex MANninger and­ Vito MANnone Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm dare to dream

    From Alex F, on Sat 26 Sep 10:32PM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    the only reason ARSEnal are still considered apart of­ the big four is out of common courtesy, because they­ USED to be able to win things. It should just be the­ big three now, let em drop out already!

    From MoNeYFiRsT, on Sat 26 Sep 10:13PM
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