Arsenal break into top-four spots: Key winners & losers as Fulham defence is exposed again

In an open game in West London, Arsenal tore Fulham to pieces 1-5.

It began as a fairly tense encounter, but Arsenal stepped up in the second half and blew the Cottagers out of the water by the river. Who were the winners and losers.

Winner: Lacazette and Aubameyang

What a player Alexandre Lacazette is. Signed amid much hype a year ago, the Frenchman had an underwhelming debut campaign in relation to that hype but actually performed quite well. This season he looks like he’s going to explode, as he now becomes the head of Unai Emery’s free-flowing attack.

The Frenchman bagged Arsenal’s first with a special turn and shot (after being involved in the build-up too). He notched the second with a thunderbolt of a shot from the range; giving Arsenal the lead again. Then his best mate Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang came off the bench late in the second half, the Gabonese instantly showed his skill on the left by setting up Aaron Ramsey’s goal.

Aubameyang playing off the striker on the left-flank is how Emery can dovetail him and Lacazette, but the Gabonese can also thrive up-front. He moved there once Lacazette went off and bagged two goals, the first remarkably similar to Lacazette’s first, and the second showing his pace in behind. This double-act can play alone, but together could make Arsenal very special.

Loser: 3-5-2

Since Chelsea won the 2016/17 Premier League with a 3-4-2-1, systems featuring three at the back have become en vogue again. This has led to a lot of great fun and excitement, both in terms of teams executing well but also teams trying to play 3 at the back as a catch-all solution to their problems and having it fail spectacularly.

With their first-choice full-backs unavailable, Fulham went for a 3-5-2 as a solution – but it didn’t work. Their centre-backs weren’t used to playing in the shape and both of their full-backs were uncomfortable playing so high up and weren’t sure of their defensive responsibilities. 3-5-2 can be incredibly useful, but it’s not a quick-fix that can solve your problems.

Winner: Alex Iwobi

Alex Iwobi shone against Qarabag in the Europa League, and that performance has helped him play his way into the first-team picture. Against the Azerbaijani side he acted as Arsenal’s catalyst, but here against Fulham he played more of an outlet role.

Iwobi was constantly pulling wide and driving forward at Fulham’s rickety back three. Arsenal had clearly identified that channel as a pathway to success and the Nigerian intelligently drove into the space behind the wing-back and attacked the back three.

It was Iwobi’s intelligent play in using Nacho Monreal on the overlap that saw the Gunners take the lead and it was his hard work that helped to work Fulham’s defence into a state of fatigue that was then exploited by lightning-quick substitute Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Iwobi isn’t the biggest name for the Gunners but he provides key balance and workrate that allows the bigger names to shine.

Loser: Shkodran Mustafi

With Laurent Koscielny down and out for a long, long while it falls to Shkodran Mustafi to be Arsenal’s leading defender. The German has a lot of talent as a pure stopper but he lacks the ability to organise himself, let alone the entire Arsenal defence.

This wasn’t punished that much by Fulham but amid all the Arsenal celebration there should be a definite sense of concern at the way Fulham managed to score their equalising goal. It was the only moment of quality that the Cottagers put together and it sliced through Arsenal like a hot knife through butter. André Schurrle ran past Mustafi and the German didn’t react to his compatriot’s breaking move, which saw him equalise for the Gunners. Better teams will exploit this weakness.

Winner: Aaron Ramsey

38 seconds played, three touches, one goal. Aaron Ramsey’s introduction to this afternoon’s entertainment was spectacular. He controlled the ball with his head and then headed the ball out wide into Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

The Armenian fed Aubameyang and Gabonese crossed it for Ramsey. The Welshman calmly caressed the ball into the back of the net with an incredible backheel. The goal put the Gunners into an unassailable 1-3 lead and turned what had been a close match intro a rout.

Ramsey later added a lovely assist, chipping the ball through for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang so that the striker could bag his second and the club’s fifth. For a player seemingly headed for an exit, Ramsey did his reputation the world of good with this display.

Loser: Fulham’s defence

Despite all their good football, Fulham have conceded a league-high 21 goals. That leaves them just two points off a relegation place, which is not where they want to be; nor where they deserve to be based on the quality of their play.

But football is a cruel game, and you often don’t get what you deserve but what you earn. And Fulham’s shocking defending for basically every Arsenal goal bar Lacazette’s second is what condemned them to this defeat. Obviously they have men missing and they still don’t have Sergio Rico in goal for some reason, but they will need to sort themselves out at the back, or they’re heading for trouble.

The post Arsenal break into top-four spots: Key winners & losers as Fulham defence is exposed again appeared first on Squawka News.

From Squawka NewsSquawka News https://ift.tt/2NudQHy