By Hugh Lawson
LONDON (Reuters) -Arsenal were held to a 1-1 Premier League draw by London rivals Fulham on a grey wet Sunday at Craven Cottage as Raul Jimenez scored early for the hosts and William Saliba equalised for the visitors at the start of the second half.
The result left Arsenal second in the table on 29 points ahead of third-placed Chelsea’s late game against Tottenham Hotspur.
Fulham, who also thwarted the Gunners both home and away last season, have now lost only one of their last seven league games and sit 10th in the table on 23 points.
“Gutted that we didn’t win it. We fully deserved to win it,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told reporters. “That’s the quality of the opposition, so you cannot cry about it.”
“We generated all the chances but it’s so difficult to attack.”
Arsenal had almost complete control of the ball in the first 10 minutes but Jimenez stunned the title-chasers in the 11th, racing away down the right and firing right-footed across goalkeeper David Raya into the far corner.
Declan Rice nearly scored a mirror-image goal for Arsenal at the other end midway through the half, controlling a pass from Leandro Trossard only to strike his left-footed volley just wide of Fulham keeper Bernd Leno’s far post.
Despite having almost 75% possession in the half and four corners compared with none for the hosts, the Gunners were unable to break through Fulham’s disciplined defence.
Saliba levelled for Arsenal shortly after the interval from point-blank range, poking the ball in when Kai Havertz headed it back down into his path from a corner.
Arsenal thought they had won it in the 88th minute when Bukayo Saka headed the ball in from close range, but the goal was ruled out by the video assistant referee for an offside in the buildup.
Fulham remained unbeaten in their last nine London derbies in the league, their best such run since 2000-2001.
“They’re a good team and they know how to defend… but we didn’t do enough today. We have to learn from that and make sure we strike back in the next one,” Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard told Sky Sports.
(Reporting by Hugh Lawson, editing by Ed Osmond)
