WHAT HAPPENED
Aaron Ramsey scored what will surely be a contender for goal of the season as we racked our ninth win on the spin with an impressive 5-1 victory at Craven Cottage.
Alex Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang both struck braces to cap off excellent individual performances, but it was our third goal that will live long in the memory as we sealed a result that moves us up to fourth in the table.
The game got off to a frantic start, and there was little more than a minute on the clock when the hosts pounced on a slack pass and Luciano Vietto forced Bernd Leno into a fine, sprawling save.
But we soon settled and with Alex Iwobi and Danny Welbeck looking sharp, we looked to punish the Cottagers up the left flank with most of our attacks focused in that area.
It was no surprise then that, with the half-hour mark approaching, we broke the deadlock as Iwobi and Welbeck combined up the left, with the latter crossing for Lacazette who finished sharply at the near post.
Alexandre Lacazette
It was the 150th goal of his club career and his celebrations with Aubameyang on the touchline, spoke of the bond they have formed since their arrival in north London.
But just before the interval, Fulham equalised as Andre Schurrle – who moments earlier had missed a very presentable chance – raced on to Vietto’s pass and dinked the ball over Leno and into the empty net.
But we started the second half keen to reassert ourselves, and moments after the restart Hector Bellerin tested Bettinelli with a firm shot from the edge of the area.
Back we came, and a minute later we re-took the lead as Lacazette ran on to Welbeck headed pass and sent a brilliant snap-shot into the bottom corner from outside the area.
Fulham remained a threat in attack and had a big chance to equalise on the hour mark but Aboubakar Kamara glanced a header wide when he should have at least tested Leno.
But within 38 seconds of coming on, Aaron Ramsey made it three with a fabulous flicked finish at the end of a sweeping counter-attack involving five players that took the breath away. The reaction among the away fans said it all, it was a special finish at the end of a special move.
Aubameyang, let loose off the bench, added a fourth in fine style, collecting Bellerin’s cross at the near post, rolling his man and then striking it left-footed into the opposite corner to spark more joyous scenes with the away fans.
The Gabon international wrapped up the scoring in injury time with a clinical finish after being played through by Ramsey and that was that, at the end of an enjoyable afternoon in west London.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
HOW IT HAPPENED
See how the match unfolded and get all the standout stats in our play-by-play commentary
WHAT IT MEANS
We move up to fourth in the table, leapfrogging Tottenham on goal difference.
Premier League table, October 7
WHAT’S NEXT
We’re now on a two-week hiatus due to the international break, with our next game not coming until Monday, October 22 when we host Leicester City at Emirates Stadium.
It marks the start of another hectic run of four matches in the space of 10 days, as we also face off against Sporting Clube de Portugal, Crystal Palace and Blackpool.
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