Fulham v. Arsenal 0-1 26/Sep/09

Mannone, the hero of the day, congratulated by friends and foes.
[Photo: Getty Images through Soccernet]



After the last episode at Craven Cottage and the midweek success of the Carling Cup, the Gunners mend the wounds in Fulham's house with the minimum difference. The visitors had the addition of Andrey Arshavin, who was not particularly deft. Next match in Arsenal's schedule is at home against Olympiakos in the Champions league, while in the Premier League is against home and away clients Blackburn. In other news Arsenal have been drawn with Liverpool in the the Carling Cup.
The surprise of the day, rather than the tight win and the struggling display by the north Londoners, was Mannone's performance. He was perfect and earned an outstanding rate among managers concerning performance. The resilience and fitness he showed has given him at least another week or two in contention for the number-one spot. It is very good to a young keeper pushing Almunia since he has been extremely tranquil in comparison with the season in which Lehmann was behind him, as Arseblogger puts it.




[Photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images through Guardian]



Arsenal's shaky start, coupled with Fulham's efforts and the mistakes that followed on each side, was strange and hesitant. In twenty minutes each keeper had been troubled at least thrice: Schwarzer denied Bendnter denied in three occasions and Arshavin, while Mannone saved Arsenal at from two clear chances. At any give moment during the first period, the Gunners were unable to beat the physical tempo that players such as Zamora or Demspey put in. In any case van Persie's freekick, in the thirtieth minute, were again outclassed by the accurate saves from Vito in the other end of the pitch.
One of the difficulties that Arsenal has had over the previous matches (with the implementation of the 4-3-3) has been the great disadvantage that the defenders are facing, as Gunnerblog notes. The industrious undertaking that both Clichy and Sagna are facing in their respective lines is a result of the liberty that midfielders enjoy in the system. Obviously in that left side, crosses poured all over the evening.




[Photo: The Sun]



With the promise of more football in the second half, the visitors grabbed the lead. It was through the genius of Cesc that the Gunners had the chance to score. Van Persie received after the chip and stroke past Schwarzer. Before the replacements came in, the match was vivid and lively. Arsenal's number 52 proved Schwarzer twice as the Fulham strikers did likewise with Mannone. The lack of accuracy in both teams left the viewer with a strange taste: were Fulham able to withstand and outclass Mannone's providential saves the match could have been at least two goals up.
The introduction of Tomas Rosicky sparked a reaction in Wenger's men since Diaby could have been trusted with a better role than the important centre-midfielder. He lost possession too quickly and his challenges were poor rather than timed. Again Nicklas Bendnter tried to get into the scoresheet but Schwarzer was ruthless. The match ended with a hypocritical added time of five minutes, exactly in a week when Arsene made public his critics towards the system of injury time.