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Arsenal v Fulham: Premier League – live | Premier League
Key events
64 min: Triple substitution for Fulham Tom Cairney, Josh King and Oscar Bobb replace Reed, Chukwueze and Wilson.
62 min Fulham’s passing has been better in the second half, helped no doubt by Arsenal sitting deeper and playing on the break.
60 min “Seeing this reminds me of something,” writes DAvid Howell. “Specifically, the Climate Clubs campaign a few years ago that reimagined various club badges to make a point about climate change (and raise money for relevant charities). One of those was the Fulham badge being changed to read FFS – something I’m sure fans of Manchester City would sympathise with right now.”
Arsenal’s next home game is against Burnley, which could be a test of Manchester City fans’ joie de vivre.
59 min Trossard slices a shot from the edge of the area that is easily saved by Leno.
56 min: Big chance for Gyokeres!
Viktor Gyokeres comes tantalisingly close to his first Arsenal hat-trick. He made a perfectly timed run onto a deft through pass from Trossard, but Leno was quickly off his line to narrow the angle and block Gyokeres’s shot. Good goalkeeping.
54 min It’s not easy for Arsenal to balance the Atletico Madrid game, which begins in 73 hours, and the need to score as many as possible. We’ll have a better idea after Monday night, when Manchester City go to Everton, but there’s every chance both teams will win all their remaining league games. If so, the title will be decided on goal difference.
51 min Eze controls Madueke’s pass on the stretch and is shaping to shoot when Bassey makes a vital challenge.
49 min Smith Rowe’s near-post corner is headed across goal by Castagne, with no Fulham player able to poke it into the net.
49 min Robinson’s cross is sliced over his own bar by Saliba. Fulham have started the second half pretty well.
48 min Jimeneze has a pop from 25 yards. It’s a good effort that fades a few yards wide of the goal with Raya at full stretch.
47 min I missed a half-time substitution for Arsenal: Noni Madueke has replaced Bukayo Saka, presumably to rest the main man ahead of Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.
46 min Arsenal get the second half under way.
‘Press release’ is the subject of Charles Antaki’s email.
(Reads from piece of paper): On behalf of a significant fraction of Arsenal fans, I am prepared to consider revising my opinion of Victor Gyökeres, subject to further developments.
Half-time reading
“Rob,” writes Sean Orlowicz, “you said fighting for a title was supposed to be miserable. “I’m having a blast!!!
“(I’ve been miserable since January.)”
Arf. That first half reminds me of the title-winning sides under Wenger, who had – for a Manchester United fan – a sickening habit of being 3-0 up after 20 minutes in April and May.
Half time: Arsenal 3-0 Fulham
Bukayo Saka’s return to the starting XI inspired a joyous first-half performance from Arsenal, who now have the chance to massage their goal difference in the second half. Saka made the first for Viktor Gyokeres, who returned the favour and then scored his second with a fine header.
Here’s the Premier League table as things stand.
Trossard led an Arsenal break with a surge through the inside-left channel. He beat his man in the area and stood up an inviting cross towards the far post. It was slightly behind Gyokeres, who showed his finishing expertise by straining his neck muscles to loop a header over Leno. He took that beautifully.
GOAL! Arsenal 3-0 Fulham (Gyokeres 45+4)
Another terrific goal clinches victory for Arsenal, already.
45+2 min I think this is the first time Saka has scored and created a goal all season, since 2024 in fact. If so, he’s picked a very good time to signal a return to form. The Emirates is a totally different place to the Newcastle game a week ago.
45 min Three minutes of added time. Arsenal are hunting a third before the break, which would then allow them to concentrate on goal difference in the second half. It’s an awkward thing to manage but they should be mindful of it as it may well decide the title.
44 min A delicious cross from Saliba just evades the stretching Gabriel at the far post. This is Arsenal’s most relaxed attacking performance in ages, probably since they walloped Spurs 4-1 in February.
43 min The return of Bukayo Saka has made Arsenal smile again.
In his first start for six weeks, a rejuventated Bukayo Saka has made one and scored one. Eze swept a nice pass down the right for the ever-willing Gyokeres, who held the ball up until Saka made a sudden dart infield. Gyokeres played him in with a nice reverse pass, and Saka rifled a low drive past Leno at the near post. That’s a lovely goal.
GOAL! Arsenal 2-0 Fulham (Saka 40)
Bukayo Saka’s back, baby!
40 min Trossard chops away from a defender on the edge of the area and sweeps a daisycutter that is comfortably saved by Leno.
38 min Sounds odd to say, but Fulham might be the happier team if it’s still 1-0 at half-time. Arsenal have been much the better team and will be keen to put the game to bed before we reach the jitterzone.
37 min Wilson’s corner is cleared by Saliba, but then White loses his balance and is robbed by Lukic. His defensive mates get him out of trouble by clearing Lukic’s cross.
36 min Fulham are having a decent little spell. Calafiori gives Raya problem with a short backpass in a crowded area; Raya’s clearance hits Gabriel and ricochets behind for a Fulham corner.
35 min “I’ve never understood the criticism of Gyokeres, I have to say,” have to says Joshua Keeling. “I think he’s a very good player. Not in the absolute top rank of strikers (Haaland et al), but very few are. He’s a good finisher and gives Arsenal something different.”
I can understand it – he is a relatively limited player – but like everything it has been way over the top.
32 min Chukwueze and then Robinson have long-range shots blocked.
The deaths of teenagers Kyrees Sullivan and Harvey Evans sparked a night of violence in Cardiff in 2023.
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Ewan Murray
Scotland’s switch to three/five man defence is no surprise. The inclusion of Nathan Patterson at right wing back instead of Aaron Hickey will turn heads, however. There have been no reports of a Hickey fitness, albeit his minutes are typically managed after a significant injury that saw him miss more than a year at Brentford. Hickey was short of his best against Haiti and received a yellow card, with those elements perhaps the simple explanation for this switch.
The exact shape of Scotland’s midfield will be intriguing. Ryan Christie plays in a deeper role for Bournemouth than typically for Scotland. Christie, one of three changes to the starting XI, is likely to be used to support Che Adams in attack.
Scotland’s team shirts are embroidered inside the neck with a message from Joe Jordan. “I came from a small place and set out in my life and career to go the furthest I could,” it reads. “For me that was playing for my country in World Cups.”
Scotland look to be 5-4-1, or even 4-5-1. Morocco will again play 4-2-3-1, by the looks of it.
Ewan Murray
Ally McCoist, who scored the winner for Scotland against Switzerland at Euro 96, is wandering around the media centre in Boston wearing his country’s strip from that very era. Scotland were denied a place in the knock-out stage of that tournament on goal difference (or, as far as Scots are concerned, because David Seaman let a Patrick Kluivert shot through his legs at Wembley as England beat the Netherlands 4-1).
There are shades of 1996 around Scotland’s scenario here. A narrow win over Haiti leaves Steve Clarke’s team with at least the possibility of being in a goal difference scrap for the last 32. Scotland could almost certainly avoid that anxiety with the claiming of a point from this game against a hotly-tipped Moroccan team. Morocco are rightly the heavy favourites. Scotland have to prove the cliche true in showing they are better as the underdog. Easier said than done.
Three changes for Scotland: Kieran Tierney, Nathan Patterson and Ryan Christie wil start with Aaron Hickey, Ben Gannon-Doak and Lawrence Shankland on the bench. That suggests a formation change. Morocco are unchanged from the Brazil game.
The teams
Scotland: Gunn, Hanley, Hendry, Tierney, Patterson, McTominay, Ferguson, Robertson, McGinn, Christie, Adams. Subs: Kelly, Gordon, Hickey, Fletcher, Dykes, Stewart, Souttar, Hyam, Doak, Hirst, Shankland, McLean, Ralston, Curtis, McKenna.
Morocco: Bounou, Hakimi, Diop, Riad, Mazraoui, El Aynaoui, Bouaddi, Diaz, Ounahi, El Khannous, Saibari. Subs: Mohamedi, Tagnaouti, Amrabat, Saadane, Talbi, Rahimi, El Ouahdi, El Mourabet, Yassine, Sbai, Belammari, El Kaabi, Amaimouni-Echghouyab, Halhal, Saleh-Eddine.
Referee: Ilgiz Tantashev (Uzbekistan)
With the USA team winning well against Australia, feels like all three host teams will go through. The hosts in 2010 and 2022 didn’t get through the groups but good for business, right? Nice piece from the excellent Joe Callaghan.
In putting himself out front and centre Marsch has, arguably, given his players the room to feel their way into the roles, before meeting the moment. Out there in the rest of the world, some may already be tiring of Marsch’s excesses but Canada is revelling in his leadership. Thursday was both catharsis and crisis and Marsch led the country through both and left windmilling his arms for more.
Tony Barr gets in touch with a question: “D’you think there’s a lot of ‘we mustn’t underestimate the Scots’ doing the rounds on the Moroccan TV pre-game chat, or is that peculiar to English pundits when your lot are up against lower opposition?
”Either way, I like to think the Moroccan Alan Shearer (Hamdallah?) is telling someone right now that Scotland ‘ iinahum laysuu ‘aghbia’’.”
Weather watch: it’s *just* 26 degrees in Foxboro, with some clouds in the sky. What counts as a heatwave in Largs, to put it another way.
The transfer market never stops and Ayyoub Bouaddi has been linked with just about everybody since his showing against Brazil. He’s a Lille player at present, but unlikely to be one beyond the closure of the window.
Ouahbi was referring to Bouaddi’s performance in a 1-0 victory against Ancelotti’s Madrid in October 2024 on the day he turned 17, which ended with Lille’s supporters singing happy birthday to him on the pitch.
That ensured that every big club in Europe has been tracking his progress since. Arsenal are in preliminary talks to sign a player believed to be valued at about £70m by Lille; Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich are thought to have registered an interest and Liverpool had scouts watching him on Saturday.
Against Brazil, it was noticeable the Morocco fans were significantly louder. That should make the atmosphere one to remember in Foxboro.
Steve Clarke is not a man to overstate things and he was typically realistic in his assessment of the Moroccans.
“We are under no illusion about the size of the task. I feel Morocco are a really, really good side. They reached the last four of the last World Cup and I have a feeling this Morocco team is slightly better than that, so that gives you an idea of the task ahead. They have power, they have pace, they have little bits of skill that can open up a game. For me they are the real deal, a top side. We will have to be at our very best to compete.
“It is a big challenge for us. We give them a lot of respect. We expect they will probably have more of the ball, more possession. We have to make sure that when we have the ball we can be a threat to Morocco.”
Scott McTominay did not have his best game against Haiti but he remains his team’s key man.
You need only walk in the vicinity of Hampden Park to learn of McTominay’s standing as a Scotland player. Kenny Dalglish and Denis Law have never been depicted on portraits on the gable end of terraced flats close to the national stadium. McTominay, a player born in England, produced such an iconic moment against Denmark last November that it will sit as an artistic reference point for ever more.
Paul MacInnes has been out and about with the Scotland fans.
Just 10 days since they first began arriving in New England, Scotland fans have managed to bring yet another nation under their thrall. Carrying a letter of support from FC Cologne, the last place to fall for the Scots two years ago, they have charmed, amused and fascinated the locals in Boston and beyond. Following the antics of the Scottish fans, their discovery of tailgating or their dancing at the baseball, appears to have become an American pastime, with clips ubiquitous on everyone’s social media feeds.
Preamble
The Tartan Army have been making friends in Boston, and they were able to celebrate a first win since 1990 when beating Haiti on Saturday . The Concacaf team proved nothing like an Iran from 1978 or Costa Rica from 1990. Not that Scotland were particularly impressive, and there were Caledonian nerves jangling all evening. Will John McGinn’s deflected goal be the high point? Here comes a real challenge in the shape of the African champions* (Cas ruling permitting) Morocco, a team who were much the better team in their opening match with Brazil. And were semi-finalists last time out, though this is a far more expansive team that the battling outfit from Qatar. If the equation for qualification is four points then a draw here would be handy. Exiting the group stage via the front door for the first time would be within Scotland’s grasp. It’s on? Well, that’s what we’re about to find out.
Kick-off is 6pm ET/11pm UK time/8am AEST. Join me.
The BBC has been told that the transport secretary is among those advising Starmer to set out a timetable.
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