Arsenal restored their five-point lead over Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table by beating Fulham 3-0 on Sunday afternoon.
First-half goals from Gabriel Magalhaes, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard secured a comfortable win for the Gunners at Craven Cottage. Mikel Arteta’s overachieving side are now just 11 games away from winning their first Premier League title in 19 years.
Fulham, meanwhile, have now suffered back-to-back defeats in their pursuit of European football. Marco Silva’s side are still eighth in the table and will be hoping to bounce back as soon as possible. Here are the headlines from Sunday afternoon’s big game.
Trossard’s unique record
Leandro Trossard made history on Sunday, as he became the first player in Premier League history to produce a hat-trick of assists during the first half of an away game.
“I’m really happy with it as well. I always try to contribute with goals and assists, help the team going forward and today it went my way,” said Trossard when asked about the achievement. “I’m just really happy that we won and we can go forward from this.”
Trossard and Odegaard spoke to Sky Sports at full-time. The Arsenal skipper added, “I think he [Trossard] has brought some amazing things to the team.
“I love to play with him. He’s always there to link up, he always looks for the combinations and when he’s in the box he’s good to find the right pass like he did today and like he’s done in the other games. Really happy to have him on the team.”
‘Genius’ is appreciated
Arsenal’s squad rushed over to celebrate with set piece coach Nicholas Jover after Gabriel Magalhaes’ header against against Fulham.
Jover joined Arsenal’s backroom staff from Man City during the summer of 2021 and has been praised for improving the team’s effectiveness from set pieces. One insider has even labelled Jover a “genius” for the impact he has made on Arteta’s side.
Jesus makes comeback
Gabriel Jesus made his first Premier League appearance in almost four months when he came off the bench against Fulham.
Jesus has not played for the Gunners since suffering a knee injury at the World Cup in Qatar. Arteta will need to make a big decision on whether to restore the Brazil international to the starting XI or stick with Trossard after the Belgian’s heroics against Fulham.
Arteta was asked about the impact Jesus will have on his team ahead of Sunday’s game. “Huge,” came his reply. “His presence, what he transmits to the team, the experience he already has in these types of games… He’s a huge player for us.
“He has changed our dynamic, he has changed our belief, he has put the team in a different status, so it is great to have him back.”
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