Source: Reuters

Arsenal ground out a 1-0 win at Fulham to remain top of the Premier League on Saturday with Leandro Trossard kneeing in the only goal of a tight tussle in the second half.

The Belgian arrived inside a crowded area to get the finishing touch to a flick-on by Gabriel from a corner just before the hour mark at Craven Cottage.

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Arsenal had been knocked off the top by Manchester City, who beat Everton earlier, but Mikel Arteta’s side responded with a workmanlike display to edge out their London rivals.

The visitors also had a first-half goal by Riccardo Calafiori ruled out for offside and a second-half penalty overturned by VAR but Fulham made Arsenal work hard for a fifth league clean sheet of the season.

Arsenal have 19 points from eight games, three more than City with champions Liverpool, who host Manchester United on Sunday, four points adrift.

While Arsenal were not at their best and started very slowly, Fulham failed to have an effort on target as Arteta’s side again showed their title credentials.

With West Ham United also not having a shot on target in Arsenal’s previous game it is the first time since they last won the Premier League in 2003-04 that they have achieved that feat in two successive league games.

“We didn’t start the game as we expected,” Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka, whose corner led to his side’s winner, told Sky Sports.

“But we have the experience now after coming here for a few years and not getting the results we wanted. For sure (this feels like a significant victory). These are points we perhaps weren’t picking up in previous seasons.”

Arsenal had drawn and lost on their last two league trips to Craven Cottage so Saturday’s clash, straight after the international break and after City’s win, looked like a test.

For the opening 34 minutes Arsenal did not have an attempt on target as they laboured against Marco Silva’s side.

Defender Calafiori did have the ball in the net with a superb finish but was ruled offside and Arsenal began to find another gear as halftime approached.

Fulham had dealt well with Arsenal’s threat from set pieces but they were undone when Saka’s delivery from a corner was met by a flick of Gabriel’s head and Trossard did the rest with his first Premier League goal of the season.

When Saka later went down under a challenge from Fulham’s Kevin, referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the penalty spot but after a lengthy look at the pitch-side monitor he rightly judged that the Fulham player had just made contact with the ball and overruled his initial decision.

That led to eight minutes of stoppage time and Arsenal were rock solid as they comfortably held out.

“Never easy. You need to get everyone aligned and up to speed to come to a difficult place,” Arteta said.

“We didn’t win here in the last two seasons. They keep knocking on the door so I’m very happy.”

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