The end of 2023 proved challenging for Mikel Arteta’s team and Arsenal fans. They faced another surprising defeat as Marco Silva’s Fulham rallied from behind to secure a 2-1 victory.
By Olisa Obi
The Gunners opened the scoring after five minutes as Bernd Leno could only parry Gabriel Martinelli’s shot into the path of Bukayo Saka for the easy tap in, it seemed like the perfect response to their midweek defeat to West Ham.
However, Fulham responded and ended a run of three Premier League games without a goal as Raul Jimenez converted Tom Cairney’s cross to bring the hosts level.
It would only go from bad to worse as Arteta’s men were not able to muster a single shot in the second half and they could only but watch as Bobby De Cordova-Reid fired home the winner in the 59th minute to make it a happy end of year for Marco Silva’s side.
The win sees Fulham, who end a run of three straight defeats without scoring a goal, move up to 13th in the table.
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Meanwhile, Arteta’s men have just one win in their last five games in the league as they finish the year fourth and miss out on a second chance to go top of the Premier League.
While speaking with newsmen, Arteta said “We have to do what we did in the previous 19 games,” further emphasising “With the same players.”
This defeat will further mount pressure especially with the winter transfer window only some hours away but the arsenal manager has emphatically said that the club does not need new players adding that these current crop of players will be able to get the job done.
