Only time will tell how damaging Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Fulham will be for Arsenal’s title hopes. The Gunners had gained ground on Liverpool and midweek and with the Reds’ game against Everton called off due to Storm Darragh it was the perfect chance to pile the pressure on even further.
Instead, Mikel Arteta’s men fell behind early to a superbly-taken Raul Jimenez strike, and despite dominating the match, they were able only to salvage a draw at Craven Cottage. Bukayo Saka thought he’d won it late on, but VAR intervened to prove that Gabriel Martinelli had been offside in the build up.
“We really wanted it,” Arteta said of the chance to put the pressure on Liverpool. “We have good momentum and it was a really crucial moment for us to go for it. We certainly did. We certainly tried and we were so close to doing it. Unfortunately we didn’t manage to achieve it.”
Now the Gunners must turn their attentions elsewhere. Wednesday sees them take on Monaco in the Champions League. A win would mean Arsenal take a huge step closer towards automatic qualification for the round of 16, and Arteta won’t want the extra games that come with a playoff if he can avoid them.
