{"id":2794,"date":"2021-04-18T19:30:13","date_gmt":"2021-04-18T18:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=2794"},"modified":"2021-04-19T11:11:44","modified_gmt":"2021-04-19T10:11:44","slug":"laughing-like-an-aina-but-var-fails-to-give-fulham-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=2794","title":{"rendered":"Laughing Like an Aina …But VAR Fails to Give Fulham Victory"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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“The difference is in the thickness?”<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A very late goal by Eddie Nketiah saw Arsenal salvage a point in a game in which almost every aspect of the game gravitated against them. Even then there was an agonising wait as Craig Pawson and his VAR henchmen sought ways to disallow Nketiah\u2019s close range effort. It followed a corner at which Mat Ryan appeared in the box to significant effect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While a number of us on this blog have a very soft spot for Fulham they would have been extremely fortuitous winners. Fulham played virtually no football, saw Arsenal have a marginal goal disallowed, profited from a penalty where Lemina jumped like an Olympic high-jumper to con the officials and though they defended bravely with a standout performance by the keeper, Areola, they were very much second-best even to an Arsenal side that increasingly showed the effects of Thursday\u2019s exertions in Prague. Perhaps the worst news for Arsenal was what looked like a nasty hamstring injury suffered by Alexandre Lacazette in the second half. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pre- match, my main concern was if you could play in the Fulham defence if your name didn\u2019t begin with A? The game was distinguished by the first mention in the official programme of Goonerholics Forever in respect of our Double celebration and Willow appeal. A lovely gesture by the club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mikel Arteta\u2019s team selection was almost certain to be a surprise given the impact of Thursday\u2019s match. The inclusion of Mat Ryan in place of Leno was not expected but not in this correspondent\u2019s view significant. The defence was rotated, as was the midfield, but Xhaka remained in the team at left-back and Ceballos continued. Our recent front three was slightly tweaked with Martinelli starting but Saka, ESR and Lacazette continued from Thursday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking a knee appeared to be a very significant gesture last Thursday and Laca led us before the match in another pointed protest against racism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the game began it looked briefly like crisp, sharp Arsenal had turned up. Lacazette set up Martinelli in the first minute and his lifted effort over the jumping keeper was just wide. In the sixth minute, Areola then made a good block from Martinelli after fine work by ESR. However, our early flurry didn\u2019t yield a goal despite the brightness of some of our football with ESR, Ceballos and Martinelli prominent and Saka and Martinelli double marked every time they got the ball. Lacazette coming deep was carrying on his excellent link play but Fulham created the next major opportunity when Maja had a shot deflected just wide of the left-hand post with Ryan off-balance. It was to be their only goal attempt, the spot-kick aside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 21 minutes, Smith Rowe drove just over and Elneny started to become more visible but not for the right reasons, driving a pass ridiculously firmly at Saka, wrestling Lookman to the ground and then when we moved forward with Fulham under pressure he played the ball back to Holding! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then a \u2018goal\u2019.  On forty-one minutes, we built pressure from both wings and a teasing chip from Bellerin was subtly headed in by Ceballos. Saka\u2019s toe was clearly offside (!) and the goal disallowed. Another \u2018goal\u2019, this time a potential own goal by Andersen was ruled out for a clearer offside by ESR. I wasn\u2019t fully in sync with Roy Keane at half-time, not for the first time it must be said, as he described the game as \u2018shocking.\u2019 But it was very much a case of an anti-climax after Thursday. Fulham\u2019s defensive mindset and our increasing fatigue made for a flat spectacle. We had played all the football and had returned from Prague after a big match on Friday morning. Facing a massed defence against a desperate side it was not a straightforward task although the game did have a slightly end of season feel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Half-time – Arsenal 0 Fulham 0 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We hoped for a sparkier Arsenal performance in the second half. Laca immediately drove wide when decently placed and Bukayo Saka strangely hit the post from an acute angle with his right foot. But then the balance of the game shifted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the fifty-fourth minute Fulham shifted forwards and Gabriel blocked Lemina whose leap into the air would have done Dick Fosbury proud. Arsenal fans are used to interminable waits that end badly and this was no exception. Was a Fulham man marginally offside? No! Was it a clear and obvious error? I thought so but I usually do when Craig Pawson is involved. Penalty given. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maja hit a very firm penalty high and down the middle giving Ryan no chance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 0 Fulham 1 – (Maja pen 58) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal\u2019s response saw a Bellerin header go just wide before he was hooked along with Elneny for Partey and P\u00e9p\u00e9. Saka was moved to right-back – yet another position for him to fill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rest of the game was attack v defence even after Lacazette collapsed to the ground clutching his hamstring. Nketiah came on for some rare minutes and understandably found it difficult to adjust to first-team football after so long on the sidelines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without showing any great incisiveness or quality Arsenal furnished many chances. P\u00e9p\u00e9 had a point-blank header saved from a Martinelli cross. Nketiah lofted over and then mis-controlled a beautiful Saka pass. Saka was just wide with a curving shot with two minutes of normal time left. Martinelli had a shot blocked by Areola and then Reid made a great block to deny Martinelli at the death. A flurry of corners seemed certain to come to naught but after Fulham blocked a Ceballos shot, the ball was deflected across to Nketiah and he ran it home at the far post. Scott Parker was apoplectic that Holding was offside but he wasn\u2019t interfering with play and not in Areola\u2019s eyeline. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 1 (Nketiah) Fulham 1 (90 +7 minutes) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final Score Arsenal 1 Fulham 1 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, if Fulham\u2019s first victory at Arsenal eluded them at the death, it was another very disappointing home result. Europe via the League looks a long way away now especially given the injury blow to Laca. We await the visit of Everton on Friday hoping we can produce a fresher performance and one in which VAR is much less intrusive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s coming \u2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A very late goal by Eddie Nketiah saw Arsenal salvage a point in a game in which almost every aspect of the game gravitated against them. Even then there was an agonising wait as Craig Pawson and his VAR henchmen sought ways to disallow Nketiah\u2019s close range effort. It followed a corner at which Mat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2794"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2794"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2806,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2794\/revisions\/2806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}