Arsenal stays top as Trossard seals gritty win
Arsenal ground out a 1-0 win at Fulham to remain top of the Premier League 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.
Arsenal had been knocked off the top by Manchester City, which beat Everton earlier in the day, but Mikel Arteta's side responded with a workmanlike display to edge out its London rival.
The visitors also had a first-half goal by Riccardo Calafiori ruled out for offside and a second-half penalty overturned by the video assistant referee (VAR) but Fulham made Arsenal work hard for a fifth league clean sheet of the season.
Arsenal has 19 points from eight games, three more than City with defending champion Liverpool, which hosts Manchester United on Monday (AEDT), four points adrift.
While Arsenal was not at its best and started slowly, Fulham failed to have an effort on target as Arteta's side again showed its title credentials.
With West Ham United also not having a shot on target in Arsenal's previous game it is the first time since it won the Premier League in 2003-2004 that it has 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, said.
"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 its past two league trips to Craven Cottage so this clash, straight after the international break and after City's win, seemed like a test.
For the opening 34 minutes Arsenal did not have an attempt on target as it 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 it was 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 this 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 was rock solid as it comfortably saw the game 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."
Fulham boss Silva received another blow to his defence, with Joachim Andersen forced off in the first half with an injury, causing concern.
"We miss the backline completely. That is our reality right now," Silva said.
"Even Tom Cairney is feeling some problems in his back. It is coming one after the other.
"The international break didn't help. We don't have enough depth to deal with these moments. It is a difficult moment for us."
