Arsenal stay top as Trossard seals gritty win at Fulham

LONDON: Arsenal ground out a 1-0 win at Fulham to remain top of the Premier League on Saturday, with Leandro Trossard kneeing in the only goal of a tight tussle in the second half.

The Belgian arrived inside a crowded area to get the finishing touch to a flick-on by Gabriel from a corner just before the hour mark at Craven Cottage.

Arsenal had been knocked off the top by Manchester City, which beat Everton earlier, but Mikel Arteta’s side responded with a workmanlike display to edge out its London rival.

The visitor also had a first-half goal by Riccardo Calafiori ruled out for offside and a second-half penalty overturned by VAR, but Fulham made Arsenal work hard for a fifth league clean sheet of the season.

“We didn’t start the game as we expected,” Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka, whose corner led to his side’s winner, told Sky Sports.

“But we have the experience now after coming here for a few years and not getting the results we wanted. For sure (this feels like a significant victory). These are points we perhaps weren’t picking up in previous seasons.”

Arsenal had drawn and lost on its last two league trips to Craven Cottage, so Saturday’s clash, straight after the international break and after City’s win, looked like a test.

For the opening 34 minutes, Arsenal did not have an attempt on target as it laboured against Marco Silva’s side.

Defender Calafiori did have the ball in the net with a superb finish, but was ruled offside, and Arsenal began to find another gear as halftime approached.

Fulham had dealt well with Arsenal’s threat from set pieces, but it was undone when Saka’s delivery from a corner was met by a flick of Gabriel’s head, and Trossard did the rest with his first Premier League goal of the season.

When Saka later went down under a challenge from Fulham’s Kevin, referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the penalty spot, but after a lengthy look at the pitch-side monitor, he rightly judged that the Fulham player had just made contact with the ball and overruled his initial decision.

That led to eight minutes of stoppage time, and Arsenal was rock solid as it comfortably held out. Agencies

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