MIKEL Arteta described Arsenal’s 1-0 victory against Fulham as an encouraging sign for the Premier League leaders after ending their recent struggles at Craven Cottage.
Leandro Trossard’s close-range finish in the 58th minute secured Arsenal’s fifth successive victory across all competitions.
The Gunners now sit three points clear of second-placed Manchester City in the title race.
Arsenal had taken just one point from their away fixtures at Newcastle and Fulham plus their home match against West Ham last season.
This term they have already recorded nine points from those same three challenging matches.
Their victory at Craven Cottage marked Arsenal’s first win in three visits to the west London club.
Arteta believes these wins represent a significant statement of intent for the long-time title challengers.
“The recent history wasn’t in our favour and we wanted to change that, like we did against Newcastle and West Ham at home,“ Arteta said.
“This is another step to having that mindset and that ability to win these kind of matches against a really good opposition, and a really difficult place to come.”
The Arsenal manager praised his team’s maturity in breaking down a stubborn Fulham defence.
“When the context is 0-0, and the game gets longer and longer, it becomes more difficult,“ he explained.
“We showed a lot of maturity and kept knocking on the door in various ways before finding a way through with the set-piece.”
Bukayo Saka appeared to have earned a penalty shortly after Trossard’s opener when fouled by Fulham substitute Kevin.
Referee Anthony Taylor initially pointed to the spot before VAR overturned the decision after determining Kevin touched the ball first.
Arteta expressed frustration with the lengthy VAR review process rather than the final decision.
“I was getting animated because it was taking so long and asked Anthony why it was taking so long,“ he revealed.
“The screen wasn’t working but it probably wasn’t a penalty so they made the right decision in the end.”
The only concern for Arsenal was Swedish striker Viktor Gyokeres failing to score for a seventh consecutive game.
Arteta remained supportive of his summer signing from Sporting Lisbon despite his Premier League struggles.
“He was very close again today and we were all begging for him to score,“ the manager said.
“The work rate he puts in for the team is phenomenal and we will continue giving him support until the goals come.” – AFP
