LONDON-. Arsenal lost for the second consecutive time with the 2-1 defeat on Sunday against Fulham and thus lost the opportunity to finish the year at the top of the league table. Premier League.
Bukayo Saka opened the scoring for Arsenal after five minutes, but the visitors were outplayed the rest of the way and Mexico’s Raúl Jiménez equalized in the first half before Bobby De Cordova-Reid fired in the winning goal in the 59th.
Arsenal spent Christmas at the top of the standings but will start 2024 in fourth place after their second straight defeat after losing at home for the first time in the campaign on Thursday against West Ham. A win at Fulham would have taken Mike Arteta’s side back to the top above Liverpool in a close fight for the top four places.
But the Gunners have just one win in five league games and this is possibly their worst performance in that period. Arteta will have to assess whether they need to strengthen the attack in the January transfer window as the team struggled to create opportunities after their first goal.
Gabriel Martinelli did the dirty work for the first goal, advancing with the ball from his half into the opponent’s six-yard box to shoot towards the post, but Bernd Leno deflected the shot straight to Saka.
Fulham responded well and had two decent chances before Jimenez scored in the 29th minute. The Mexican scored four goals in four league games — tying his mark in the previous 50 games.
Fulham continued to be the most dangerous team and ended with the winning goal from De Cordova-Reid.
Source: AP
