Arsenal hold on to win at Fulham

Arsenal continued their brilliant run of form as they beat London rivals Fulham at Craven Cottage 1-0 on Saturday. Not many people would have betted that Lauren Koscielny and Per Mertesacker would combine to score the winning goal in this game. However, that was indeed the case as Koscielny found the tall German who nodded home his third of the season from close range. That wasn't before Fulham had been sent down to ten men as Steve Sidwell has been shown an early red card. It wasn't the only red card in the game as Giroud was also shown a straight red for a tackle late on. Arsenal once more showed their new founded grit and determination as despite not creating many chances against ten men, they were resilient in the fact that they held on and won despite not playing well - something that Manchester United have been doing for only too long. In terms of the Arsenal line-up, Tomas Rosicky started in place of Wilshere whilst Szczesny kept his place in goal. The other change was Nacho Monreal as he replaced Gibbs at left back.

Mertesacker scored his third goal of the season as Arsenal beat Fulham

The first chance of the game sprung to Theo Walcott as he managed to find the back of the net but for the offside flag.

The turning point in the game perhaps came on 11 minutes though. Steve Sidwell went over the top of the ball and caught Arteta on the ankle. The former Arsenal-trainee who had only just come back from a 3 game ban was shown a straight red card for his troubles.

Fulham's first chance fell to Berbatov as Fulham broke away and then Emmanuelson played the ball through to him. However Monreal managed to move him wide and Szczesny made a good save to deny the Bulgarian.

Arsenal's next effort came from the boot of Aaron Ramsey. The shot was very tame though as he slipped and Schwarzer made a straight forward save.

Shortly after, the Gunners went as close as they had all game as Giroud managed to set himself well before firing against the far post.

It was end to end football as Fulham then almost found the lead. On-loan midfielder Urby Emmanuelson dispossessed Monreal and then hit a shot which almost crept in.

Minutes before the break, the deadlock was finally broken as Arsenal found themselves in front. Walcott's free-kick was headed back across goal by Koscielny and Mertesacker was there to head home from a few yards out.

The score at half time was 1-0.

The first attempt on goal in the second half was that of a Fulham player as Ruiz's free-kick curled over the bar.

Walcott then came close to doubling the lead but he was only inches away from Cazorla's pass as Schwarzer raced out to pounce upon the ball.

Manolev was proving to be a surprising threat down the right hand side and then his cross-come-shot almost sailed in but Szczesny managed to tip it over the bar.

It was then Manolev who had thought he'd grabbed an equaliser for the hosts as he stuck the ball home following Szczesny's save from a free-kick. However, the goal was ruled out for offside.

Cazorla then had a chance to seal all three points as Wilshere played the ball outwide to him but Hangeland threw himself in the way to block the shot.

Towards the end of the game, Olivier Giroud was to be shown a red card as he looked to have gone in dangerously on Manolev. On second viewing though, the Frenchman looked to have got the ball first.

In the dying moments, Arsenal broke away with Aaron Ramsey as he came close to scoring but his shot went wide of the far post.

The final score finished Fulham 0-1 Arsenal.

The teams lineups:

Fulham: Schwarzer, Manolev, Senderos, Hangeland, Richardson, Enoh, Sidwell, Emmanuelson(87), Kacaniklic(85), Ruiz, Berbatov.
Subs: Etheridge, Riise, Hughes, Karagounis, Frei(87), Rodallega, Petric(85).

Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Arteta, Ramsey, Rosicky(71), Walcott(71), Cazorla(90), Giroud. 
Subs: Mannone, Vermaelen(90), Gibbs, Wilshere(71), Oxlade-Chamberlain, Gervinho, Podolski(71).

My man of the match: Laurent Koscielny

Referee: Andre Marriner
Attendance: 25,700