LONDON, (Reuters) – Arsenal preserved the Premier League’s last remaining 100% record as defender Gabriel went from villain to hero to earn a 2-1 victory over Fulham with a late winner on Saturday.
The Brazilian gifted Fulham the lead in the 56th minute but made amends in the 85th, tapping in from close range after a mistake by former Arsenal keeper Bernd Leno.
The home fans were in full cry at the final whistle as theirt side remained top with 12 points from four games — two more than champions Manchester City and Brighton & Hove Albion.Arsenal had laboured against a well-drilled Fulham side who had been unbeaten on their top-flight return and fell behind when Aleksandar Mitrovic slotted in his 100th goal for the club.
But Fulham’s lead lasted only eight minutes before captain Martin Odegaard’s deflected effort levelled it up.
Arsenal have won their first four games of a Premier League season for the third time after doing so in 2003-04 when they claimed the title undefeated and 2004-05 when they came second.”Big boost, winning like this is really nice,” manager Mikel Arteta said. “We made a mistake and they punished us but then how we reacted against adversity, the connection with the supporters, the way we went about it, the team believed.”
Arsenal started confidently and Granit Xhaka was close to opening the scoring with a volley that flew just wide after being set up by Gabriel Jesus.
But the rest of the first half was forgettable as Arsenal’s attack was easily stifled by Fulham’s rearguard.
