Arsenal start 2019 on the front foot with 4-1 thrashing of Fulham

The lively New Year’s Day encounter nearly saw the hosts start 2019 how they left 2018: with a defensive collapse. Arsenal could, and perhaps should, have fallen behind with a quarter of an hour gone when Andre Schurrle slid in Ryan Sessegnon down the right. The young Englishman charged into the box but his effort was lashed just wide of Bernd Leno’s far post.

Unai Emery’s side was sloppy in possession, failing to string together any meaningful passages of play. Shkodran Mustafi the main culprit for the poor distribution, lending further evidence that the Arsenal manager and board must address the defensive frailties in January if they are to stand any realistic chance of climbing back into the top four.

Fulham continued to press in search of their first away victory of the season. The Cottagers have had ten away days so far and the fans have only been given two points to cheer for their travels as they earned draws against Newcastle and Brighton.

Their effort to get their first away win was made even harder when on 25 minutes they fell behind. Alex Iwobi produced some smart work on the left before sending in a cross which found Granit Xhaka who prodded the ball in from six yards out.

Xhaka opened the scoring for the Gunners as they started 2019 with a win (photo credit: Premier League).

Seven minutes later the lead could have been doubled when Sead Kolasinac ghosted into the box causing a scramble. The Bosnian found Xhaka but the Swiss international saw his effort blocked by a swarm of flailing Fulham defenders.

Iwobi continued to cause problems for the visiting full-backs. The Nigerian used brilliant quick feet to wriggle past closing defenders before picking out an inch perfect cross for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to attack but the Gabon striker headed the ball wide.

Claudio Ranieri would have been thankful for the half-time whistle as the home side began to strengthen their grip on the game. Sergio Rico ensured the deficit in the second half would be kept at one goal as he spread himself to deny Alexandre Lacazette from a tight angle.

Nine minutes into the second half and the French forward did grab his goal. Again it was scintillating play from Iwobi and Aubameyang who linked well down the left before the latter played in Kolasinac who unselfishly squared the ball to Lacazette and the former Lyon marksman produced a tidy finish.

Fulham nearly gave themselves a lifeline with 20 minutes to play when Jean Seri clipped a ball in for Aleksandar Mitrovic to attack. The Serbian striker could only guide his header straight at Leno.

Moments later Ranieri’s men did get themselves back into the game when they caught Arsenal sleeping in their own half. Lucas Torreira, brought on at half time, was caught in possession by Seri and the ball was quickly worked out wide to Sessegnon who slid the ball across the goal where Aboubakar Kamara tapped the ball into an open net and perhaps getting back into his manager’s good books following his penalty farce against Huddersfield Town.

The goal jolted the Cottagers into life and put Arsenal on the ropes as they looked every bit like surrendering their once iron-clad two-goal advantage.

However all hope was extinguished when Aaron Ramsey added a third goal with just ten minutes left to play. The Wales midfielder profited from an Aubameyang shot cannoning back off the post and the loose ball falling kindly to him where he let fly past Rico.

Aubameyang then added a fourth to further rub salt into the Fulham wounds. The visitors failed to properly clear a Xhaka corner and Ramsey found the Gabon striker who hit a low shot which deflected in off Tim Ream to complete a man of the match performance.