2023 ended on a low note as we fell to a second successive London derby defeat as Fulham came from behind to win 2-1 at Craven Cottage.
That was despite Bukayo Saka putting us in front four minutes into the contest, but Raul Jimenez pulled the teams level before half-time and Bobby De Cordova-Reid then poked the ball home after a corner wasn’t cleared to complete the turnaround.
Saka’s fast start
Things got off to the perfect start for Arteta’s team as they took the lead after just four minutes. Fulham had been given a swift warning when Martin Odegaard whipped a shot just wide of the post moments before, and after the Cottagers piled forward on their first attack, we capitalised.
David Raya quickly rolled the ball out to Kai Havertz who fed Gabriel Martinelli, and the Brazilian winger charged over the halfway line to the hosts’ area, where he shot low towards the bottom corner. Bernd Leno got down low to keep it out, but Saka was perfectly placed to instinctively pop the loose ball into the net and score his ninth of the season.
Jimenez strikes
However, Marco Silva’s team would be undeterred from falling behind and began to create chances of their own. Jimenez forced Raya into a comfortable save and former Gunner Willian sent a fizzing effort past the post, but on 28 minutes they did find the net to restore parity.
Calvin Bassey won the ball off Saka to start the move and allow Willian to edge forward down the left. He in turn found Tom Cairney who produced a dangerous first-time low cross across the box for Jimenez, and the in-form Mexican fired past Raya to score his fourth goal in his last four league outings.
Momentum would shift again as the half developed and the final five minutes of it saw us begin to carve out opportunities for ourselves again, one of which saw a fine passing move involving Saka, Declan Rice and Odegaard culminate in the skipper teeing up Martinelli whose shot crept just a fraction wide of Leno’s far upright.
Unwanted comeback
Both sides went into the break level which was a fair reflection of the opening 45, but the Whites would come out after the interval and enjoy another spell of attacking threat, and would complete the comeback just before the hour mark.
The pressure began by winning a couple of corners, and Willian swung one towards the back post which was allowed to drop inside the area, and after it bounced around De Cordova-Reid was on hand to lash it into the net from close range and put us really under the cosh.
In keeping with the mood in the away end, the heavens opened and a huge rainstorm drenched Craven Cottage for the best part of 10 minutes which saw the game become a stalemate.
When we did find a shooting chance, Saka blazed a volley well over when he had time and space to compose himself, and then when we tried that later in the half a brilliant sliding challenge by Timothy Castagne snuffed out another sight of goal.
In fact the closest anyone came to changing the scoreline came three minutes from time when Andreas Pereira smacked a free-kick off the crossbar which would have sealed it, but ultimately the Cottagers wouldn’t need another goal as they recorded just their third win against us in the Premier League era.
Facts and stats
This was the first time that we lost a Premier League game in which we scored the game’s opening goal since New Year’s Day 2022 against Manchester City (Bukayo Saka put them 1-0 up both then and today). It ended our run of 48 league games unbeaten when going 1-0 ahead (W42 D6).
Fulham won a Premier League game in which they had fallen behind at any stage for the first time since October 2022 against Leeds, ending their 26-game winless run when falling behind in the league (D4 L22).
Having only lost two of their opening 18 Premier League games this season (W12 D4), we have since lost both of their last two, just the second time since the start of last season that we have suffered back-to-back league defeats (also in May).
Fulham ended their 11-game winless run against us in the Premier League (D3 L8), with this their first league win over us since January 2012 (2-1).
Raul Jimenez has scored four goals in his last four Premier League games, as many as his previous 50 appearances in the competition beforehand.
Bobby De Cordova-Reid scored his fourth Premier League goal of the season (18th app), matching his total for the whole of last season (36 apps).
Bukayo Saka scored his 10th London derby goal in the Premier League; only Harry Kane (15) has ever scored more London derby goals in the competition while aged 22 or younger.
What's next
We take a break from the Premier League now as we look forward to our FA Cup third-round match against Liverpool at Emirates Stadium on Sunday, January 7, with our next scheduled league game coming against Crystal Palace, also at home, on Saturday, January 20.
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