The 20th round of the Premier League continues, and Arsenal ushers in the year-end finale, heading away to face local rivals Fulham. Bukayo Saka opened the scoring but Fulham then took over, Jimenez equalised and Reid scored in the second half to make it 2-1 for Arsenal. The Gunners ended their campaign in 2023 with two straight defeats, with Liverpool and Manchester City laughing at the gift.
Mikel Arteta rotated to a certain extent in a 4-3-3 system, with the much-doubted Raya continuing to guard the goal, Kiwior playing at left-back, Gabriel, Saliba and Ben White in defence, Havertz returning from banning and playing with Rice and Odegaard in midfield, Saka and Martinelli in attack, and Eddie Nketiah replacing Gabriel Jesus as the starting centre-forward.
After the start of the game, Arsenal showed a higher level of strength, and the anti-away dominated suppressed Fulham. Just four minutes into the opening game, Raya instigated a counterattack with a long pass, Martinelli cut inside on the left, the shot in the box was saved, Saka outflanked the ball in front of the goal and sent the ball into the net, Arsenal kicked a dream start, 1-0!Worth 1The 200 million Bukayo Saka has played well this season, handing over 9 goals and 11 assists in 26 appearances in all competitions, winning the team's top hand and assist title.
However, with a goal in hand, Arsenal became conservative instead, and Fulham took the opportunity to take advantage of the situation. In the 15th minute, Iwobi split the ball in front, Robinson inserted it on the left, and sent a low flat ball to the middle, Jimenez met the ball and pushed it but unfortunately played too right, and was easily confiscated by Raya. In the 19th minute, Fulham played a quick counterattack, Iwobi calmly crossed the ball from the right, Jimenez failed to grab the point, Willian followed up at the back point, and shot wide of the post in the far corner, and Arsenal suddenly made a noise in front of the goal.
In the 21st minute, there was a controversy on the field, Reid counter-attacked in the penalty area, and fell to the ground under the defense of Saliba, but the referee showed mercy and did not award a penalty, and Arsenal escaped again. In the 29th minute, Palhinha made a steal at the back, Willian advanced on the left side and counterattacked, Kellney inserted a cross, Kiwior seriously missed, Jimenez pushed and hit the back point, Fulham equalized, and Arsenal finally paid the price for their conservatism!
In the 43rd minute, Arsenal played a fluent combination on the right, Saka, Kai Havertz and Rice hit the ball in succession, Odegaard crossed in the box, Martinelli tackled wide in the middle, and the two teams returned to the dressing room with a score of 1-1.
After returning to the pitch, Arteta immediately adjusted, removing the sinner Kiwior with Kenhiro Tomiyasu at the start of the second half. In the 47th minute, Rice made a steal in front of the field, and then moved wide to the left, Martinelli cut and shot, but unfortunately it missed the post.
In the 59th minute, Willian crossed from a corner, Palhinha's header hit Rice, Arsenal was in chaos in front of the goal, Reid seized the opportunity to push the goal from close range, and Fulham reversed the score 2-1!
In the 63rd minute, Martinelli crossed from the left, Robinson and Bassey collided in the penalty area, Saka smiled and saluted, but in the face of the empty goal, he kicked it away!Seeing that he had not been able to equalize, Arteta was also anxious, and in the 67th minute, he made two substitutions in a row, with Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus coming on.
In the 71st minute, Jimenez's breakthrough was blocked, Kellney made a slight adjustment, and hit a high-quality long-range shot from outside the box, which Raya flew to save. In the 88th minute, Pereira hit the crossbar with a direct free-kick that bounced off the crossbar and Fulham almost killed the game.
In the end, Arsenal lost 1-2 to Fulham, ending 2023 with two consecutive defeats. It is worth mentioning that Arsenal have not only failed to seize the advantage of the first game to seize the top spot, but have slipped to fourth place in the table, and if Liverpool win this round, the difference will be extended to five points.