Arsenal’s hopes dashed by VAR in thrilling 1-1 draw with Fulham

Arsenal missed the chance to close the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool, settling for a 1-1 draw against Fulham on Sunday.  

Bukayo Saka thought he had secured a late winner for the Gunners, but his goal was ruled out after a VAR review for offside, bringing Arsenal’s four-game winning streak to an end.

Fulham took the lead early through a spectacular strike from Raul Jimenez, while William Saliba leveled the score for Arsenal with a header from a corner.

Despite the setback, the result moves Arsenal into second place, six points behind Liverpool, who have a game in hand after their match against Everton was postponed due to adverse weather conditions.

Arsenal were missing key defenders Gabriel Magalhaes and Riccardo Calafiori due to injury, and Fulham capitalised on the makeshift left side of their backline.

Kenny Tete’s incisive pass found Jimenez, who surged forward and curled an excellent shot past David Raya into the far corner in the 11th minute.

Despite dominating possession, Arsenal struggled to break down Fulham’s defence in the first half, with Saka’s effort easily saved by Bernd Leno.

The Gunners’ prowess from set-pieces, which had delivered two goals against Manchester United in midweek, came to their rescue again. Saliba converted Kai Havertz’s header from close range to score Arsenal’s 23rd goal from corners since the start of last season.

Thomas Partey missed a golden opportunity to secure victory, heading wide from a precise Declan Rice corner. Saka thought he had secured the win late on, but Gabriel Martinelli was adjudged offside in the build-up to the goal.

Elsewhere, Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Leicester snatched a 2-2 draw against Brighton at the King Power Stadium.

Jamie Vardy inspired the late comeback, assisting Bobby De Cordova-Reid’s stoppage-time equaliser after Tariq Lamptey and Yankuba Minteh had put Brighton ahead.

Meanwhile, Bournemouth staged a dramatic late turnaround to beat Ipswich 2-1 at Portman Road.

Conor Chaplin’s opener for Ipswich was cancelled out by goals from Enes Unal and Dango Ouattara, keeping Ipswich four points adrift of safety in the bottom three.