Fulham-Arsenal: Game Two Review

Arsenal has been dealt a severe blow to their title ambitions on their visit to Craven Cottage. The Gunners lost their first game of the season to hard-working Fulham by 1-0. The only goal was scored by defender Brede Hangeland in the 21th minute.

Here comes the analysis of the performances of Arsenal players in the second round of the English Premier League.

GK: Manuel Almunia. As in his last match, he did not have a lot to do. He saved a couple of weak shots from the Fulham attackers. He could have done something in the 21th minute when Hangeland scored but he remained paralysed while the ball slid into the net.

LB: Gael Clichy. He was determined and vigorous as usual. Clichy battled for every ball, made very few mistakes, and ran on the left creating some dangerous chances. He was one of the main players for Arsenal today. A big part of the attacks went through his side and he did well. He combined well with Samir Nasri, although Nasri was not at his best.

CB: William Gallas. Again, doubts crept into my mind as to how this player has been selected as captain of Arsenal. Once again, he did not show that he has the sufficient qualities to be the Gunners captain. Gallas was the reason why Fulham scored their only goal. He could not stay with his man when the whites were taking a corner, and did nothing to stop him from scoring. It was a bad day for Arsenal’s skipper.

CB: Kolo Toure. He played his own game and was stable until he was substituted in the 77th minute. He played good with his head and did not take any chances. Kolo made a terrific tackle to stop Zamora from getting one-on-one with Almunia. He proved to be the right choice today and was the backbone of Arsenal’s defence. That’s why his replacement by Alexandre Song in the 77th minute was a surprise to me.

RB: Bakary Sagna. The simple fact that the wings were used in almost every attack the Gunners made reveals Sagna’s role in this match. He stormed down the right and made it as difficult as possible to the opposition’s wingers. He passed the ball successfully and was a rock on the right side of defence.

LM: Samir Nasri. His first half was terrible. He struggled to make a good pass and was out of the game for most of the time. He looked miles away from what he was against West Bromich Albion. However, after the break he reminded us of his skills, improving his game dramatically. Unfortunately, that could not help the sinking ship which was Arsenal today.

CM: Denilson. A really bad day for the lad. It was like the Brazilian wonder-kid was in a world of his own. His passing rate was awful and made a lot of wrong decisions, resulting in him losing the ball. Every player has a day like this one but what I can’t understand is why Arsene Wenger did not replace him.

CM: Emmanuel Eboue. Like Nasri, he remained practically unnoticed in the first half of the game. He applied little pressure to Fulham midfielders and as a result they easily overplayed Arsenal’s midfield in the first half. He improved in the second half and started to get more involved in Arsenal’s attacks.

RM: Theo Walcott. He was also not on his best. Once again, Theo could not find the space to use his speed and had an average game. Nicklas Bendtner replaced him in the 65th minute.

ST: Emmanuel Adebayor. He was the only real threat for Fulham. He had to work hard to create his chances as there were not enough good passes coming from the midfield. The team relied on his headers to decide the match, but he could not find the net on this day. He hit the bar once and made a couple of dangerous shots. The reason for this defeat was not with him.

ST: Robin van Persie.  The Dutch striker had a terrific chance when he received a pass form Nasri but wasted it, his shot passing inches away from the right-hand post of Mark Schwarzer. He took all of Arsenal’s free kicks but all his shots were unsuccessful.

Subs

ST: Nicklas Bendtner. He had a few touches of the ball but got them all wrong.

DM: Alexandre Song. He came in to replace Toure and took a position in midfield which refreshed Arsenal’s game. He made a couple of good passes, one of which was particularly good.

Unused Substitutes:

Lukasz Fabianski, Kieran Gibbs, Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Johan Djourou