Joao Palhinha scored in the 87th minute to give Fulham, down to ten men, a 2-2 draw at Arsenal on Saturday.
57 seconds into the game, Arsenal conceded the lead to Fulham due to a defensive blunder. However, thanks to goals from Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah in the second half, Arsenal recovered to take a 2-1 lead. Although Palhinha was left unmarked to score the late equalizer from a corner, the hosts were unable to hold on to the victory. That was true even though Fulham lost a man in the 83rd minute when Calvin Bassey received a second yellow card.
Gabriel Jesus, an Arsenal striker who had been sidelined with a knee injury, entered the game for the first time this year, but the Gunners were unable to secure a victory in the nine minutes of added time. After starting the season with two victories, it was Arsenal’s first loss of the year, and they largely caused the defeat themselves.
When Saka misplayed a back pass, Andreas Pereira was able to get through on goal with Aaron Ramsdale well outside of his area, giving Fulham the early lead. Pereira calmly slid the ball past Ramsdale and into the open net as he retreated toward the goal.
With Gabriel Martinelli forcing Bernd Leno into three saves alone, Arsenal had a few good chances to tie the score in the first half but failed to take advantage of any of them. The best opportunity fell to Kai Havertz in the 11th minute when Saka met a cross at the far post and poked the ball across goal toward the German, who lunged in but could only poke it wide of the goal.
When Ben White allowed the ball to fall to Raul Jimenez, who nearly scored with a spectacular overhead kick that sailed just wide of the goal, Arsenal gave Fulham another opportunity.
Jimenez returned to the Emirates for the first time since 2020, when a head collision while playing for Wolverhampton left him with a fractured skull that kept him out for nearly a year.
Up until Fabio Vieira’s introduction, Arsenal struggled to produce quality chances in the second half of a match played amid a thunderstorm that lit up the sky above Emirates Stadium. The first goal came from a penalty that Saka calmly averted after the Portuguese midfielder was brought down in the penalty area.
A few minutes later, Nketiah gave Arsenal the lead by tucking in a low cross from Vieira. Bassey was down following a challenge on Saka in the area moments earlier, but play continued despite the Fulham manager Marco Silva’s protests, who resulted in a booking.
Bassey’s dismissal appeared to give Arsenal a chance to hold onto the victory, but more careless defending after a corner gave Fulham the opportunity to tie the game.
Deep into overtime, Vieira came close to scoring the game-winning goal to cap off his memorable cameo, but Leno deflected his curling shot over the crossbar.
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