Arsenal left frustrated after late Bukayo Saka winner is ruled out in Premier League draw at Fulham

Gunners miss opportunity to close gap on leaders Liverpool

William Saliba celebrates after scoring for Arsenal in their 1-1 Premier League draw against Fulham at Craven Cottage on December 8, 2024. Getty Images

Bukayo Saka heads home for Arsenal late in the game only for the goal to be ruled out for offside, following a VAR review. Getty Images

Arsenal's Bukayo Saka celebrates scoring before the goal was ruled out for offside. Reuters

Arsenal's Kai Havertz heads the ball down for teammate William Saliba who levelled the scores in the 52nd minute. AFP

Arsenal attacker Kai Havertz of Arsenal is challenged by Sander Berge of Fulham. Getty Images

Raul Jimenez celebrates with Alex Iwobi after putting Fulham into an early lead. Reuters

Arsenal's Thomas Partey heads a chance wide in the second half. AP

Arsenal's manager Mikel Arteta, right, and his Fulham counterpart Marco Silva. AP

Raul Jimenez fires home for Fulham in the 11th minute despite the efforts of Arsenal defender William Saliba. Getty Images

Arsenal's Declan Rice shoots wide of the target in the first half at Craven Cottage. Reuters

Arsenal's Kai Havertz, left and Declan Rice remonstrate with referee Chris Kavanagh. Reuters

Arsenal missed the chance to close the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool down to four points when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday.

Fulham took the lead with the first attack of the game in the 10th minute when Kenny Tete threaded a perfect ball through to Raul Jimenez who kept his calm under pressure from William Saliba to fire home into the bottom corner.

The Gunners then nearly scored with their one and only effort on target in the first half when Adam Traore gave the ball away leading to a quick counter-attack which ended with Bukayo Saka's strike forcing a good stop from Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Lerno down low.

After a disappointing opening 45 minutes, set-piece kings Arsenal levelled the scores in the 52nd minute when Kai Havertz headed down Declan Rice's corner for Saliba to stab home.

And midfielder Thomas Partey should have put his team in front from another Rice corner only for the Ghanaian to head wide with the goal at his mercy.

Fulham, though, were standing firm and had a chance of their own with 20 minutes to go when substitute Andreas Pereira saw his low effort saved by David Raya in the Arsenal goal.

But it was Mikel Arteta's side that thought they had secured all three points two minutes from time when Saka got in front of his marker Antonee Robinson to head home from close range Gabriel Martinelli's perfect cross to the back post.

The England international celebrated what would have been his sixth Premier League goal of the campaign in front of a delirious away end – only for VAR to rule that Martinelli had been caught offside by the tightest of margins after being picked out by a Jurrien Timber pass.

It was a punch in the gut for Arsenal who would have made it four wins on the spin but had to settle for a point.

Liverpool – whose Merseyside derby clash at Everton was postponed on Saturday on safety grounds due to the severe weather caused by Storm Darragh – enjoy a six-point lead over the Gunners with a game in hand.

“We dominated most of the game,” Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard told Sky Sports. “The first half wasn't great. We were a bit sloppy and lacked energy and power. The second half was a lot better. It's frustrating not to win. We were close in the end with the goal.

“They're a good team. They know how to defend. A solid block. We didn't do enough today. We have to learn from that and straight back in for the next one.

“We have to focus on ourselves. We don't care about the other teams [in the title race].

“We did a lot of good things. We have to do more and put the ball in the box more times. Maybe be a bit more direct and aggressive. We could have won it in the end.

“It's a very long way to go. We've said hundreds of times we have to keep going game by game.”

Arsenal are back in action on Wednesday when they take on Monaco in the Champions League before returning to domestic duties against Everton three days later, both at the Emirates Stadium.

Fulham remain 10th in the table on 23 points but will be overtaken by Spurs if Ange Postecoglou's side beat Chelsea.

“The first thing is to praise the players for their commitment” said manager Marco Silva. “On the ball it wasn't the game we like to play normally. The weather conditions weren't the best. They are really strong in the pressure.

“In some moments we should have kept the ball. Not many chances [for Arsenal] were good chances. We knew they'd start the second half strongly. I'd like to see us making better decisions because we had some good moments to punish them more but they equalised.

“Overall, the commitment and fighting spirit was really good. A very good goal. Great ball from Kenny Tete and what a finish.

“It's [the recent run] been great. The players are great as always. They're embracing the challenge.”