Fulham 2 - 1 Arsenal: Second half *bleep* costs us game

I'm absolutely livid at the moment, so excuse me if I come off sounding a bit over-critical tonight.

To use an old cliche, that was a game of two halves. In the first half we were excellent. The passing was slick, the movement was good, the defending was good and we just generally looked like a good team. The only problem was that we didn't score enough goals, and ultimately this is where we faltered.

First Half
We got into Fulham's third of the pitch quite easily at times, but either lacked that final ball or that clinical finish. On a few ocassions we got in behind, cut it back, only for a shot to be blocked or hit wide. Our shooting, in general, was ppr all game.

We deservedly took the lead and needed to take our opportunities and kill the game off because Fulahm, despite having difficulties scoring, still looked dangerous. The likes of Dembele, Dempsey and Ruiz were finding these pockets of space and running at our backline far too often. Some more cutting edge from Fulham and they probably would've scored in the first half.

Second Half
Arsenal had to make a decision in the second half: a) try and get another goal and kill the game off or b) try and protect the 1-0 lead. Tonight, we chose to do option b. We played with ten men behind the ball and invited pressure onto us, hoping that we could catch Fulham on the counter through the pace of Gervinho and Walcott. The plan half worked. We kept Fulham at bay, but couldn't get out of own half and sustain any pressure on Fulham.

The turning point was the red card. We obviously weren't going to score and Fulham were looking more and more dangerous by the minute. It was going to be hard enough with a full compliment of players, but with ten men you just sensed we weren't going to hold on. Djourou got his second yellow - the justification for which I'll talk about later - and Arsenal were forced to bring in Sebastien Squillaci... or were they? I don't know about you guys, but why couldn't have we just moved Song into centre back and Koscielny to right back? Koscielny was a rock all game in the middle, but doing that surely, surely would've been better than bringing on Squillaci.

The equaliser was a poor goal to concede. Szczesny flapped at the corner and when a keeper does that, it creates all sorts of havoc in the penalty area. Senderos headed it back in, and Sidwell steamed in to nod home the equalising goal. No one picked up Sidwell, no one challenged the header... set-piece defending from last season all over again.

Then there's the winning goal. Squillaci's header was awful. Although, not all the blame should go to him. Zamora was completely unmarked at the back post when the header dropped to him. Coquelin was no where to be seen, and should've been back marking him until the danger was cleared. A bit of naivety there from him.

Trouble scoring goals comes back to haunt us again
For all the defensive mshaps in the second half, the whole situation could've been avoided had Arsenal not been so profligant in the first half. For all the good play, there were no goals to show for it and in the end that created unnecessary pressure. Yes, you expect the team to be able to see out a 1-0 lead but we have to bare in mind that we're playing a centre back at right back and a midfielder at left back, and had a man sent off. Koscielny and Mertesakcer can't always turn superhuman and carry the whole of Arsenal's defence - from goalkeeper to striker - on their backs. If you're 2-0 or 3-0 up, you'll have a much better chance at seeing games out. It's simple logic.

It may seem the problem is defensively but it's not. It's scoring goals, and we've seen in three consecutive games now: Wolves on Tuesday, which we drew 1-1 but should've won; QPR on Satuday which should've been 3-0 not 1-0 and Fulham tonight. It's worrying. Van Persie can't do it all on his own. Walcott and Gervinho are shocking in the final third at the moment. Ramsey doesn't score goals. Arteta is too deep to score goals. Something needs to be done.

Refereeing was shocking
I left this until last because I didn't want to make it look like I was blaming the ref for the result... but today, Lee Probert gave us absolutely nothing. Maybe Warnock's rant had an effect, but van Persie was kicked and fouled all over the place and got nothing. Gervinho was blatantly tripped in the penalty area and no penalty was given. Van Persie was pushed over by Senderos and no penalty was given. Walcott was pushed off the pitch by Riise with two hands and no foul was given. A lot of niggly fouls all over the pitch didn't go our way. Djourou's second yellow card wasn't even a yellow card.

It's not just in this game either. City lost yesterday to a blatantly offside goal. Vermaelen was booked for not even doing anything on Saturday, and we were denied two penalties. Liverpool were awarded a freekick that wasn't on Friday, and scored from it. In general, the standard of officiating in the Premier League is poor.

Player Ratings
Wojciech Szczesny - 6. Had to make some good saves but was strangley vunerable when coming out to claim crosses. He came out for one free-kick and got no where near it, and then flapped at the corner that eventually lead to the equaliser. It's great that he wants to take command, but he's got to pick his moments better.

Per Mertesacker - 6. Had a decent game overall, but for crying out loud, he has to be strong. How can someone seven inches smaller than you outjump you? Demspey towered above him and luckily his header went wide. I know it's not his style and what have you, but it's something he has to rectify because it's creating problems.

Laurent Koscielny - 7. Beastly performance tonight. Took his goal well and excellent at the back. Deserves to have his name chanted by the Arsenal fans.

Johan Djourou - 5. Just looks so vunerable out at full back. Beaten far too easily at times and was sent off, rightly or wrongly. Sagna's return can't come quick enough.

Francis Coquelin - 6. For a right footed midfielder playing left back, he did really well, both defensively and going forward. Left Zamora unmarked for the winner, however.

Alex Song - 6. Made some good challenges in the first half but went missing in the second.

Mikel Arteta - 6. Likewise, good in the first half, but missing in the second.

Aaron Ramsey - 6. And again, missing in the second half. The first half from him was his best performance for a long time. He used the ball well, covered ground, did good defensive work and set-up Koscielny with a great cross, but was anonymous in the second half like the rest of the midfield.

Theo Walcott - 5. Movement good, end product poor, be it crossing or shooting. Needs to sort it out, as he's been poor for a while now.

Gervinho - 5. Good on the ball, showing flashes of great close control and skill, but end product was terrible once again. Can't shoot, can't pass, can't cross... like Walcott, really need to buck his ideas up. Was he this wasteful for Lille? Genuine question.

Robin van Persie - 5. Was just marked out of the game. Showed some flashes of brilliant hold-up play and skill but his effectiveness overall wasn't that high. He got little service thanks to the poor end product of the wingers and was pretty much fouled all over the place. Will get a rest now.

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Sebastien Squillaci - 5. Just... I don't need to say anything. Can't wait until he leaves.

Tomas Rosicky - 5. Brought on to help sure up the flanks but let his man get past him time after time.

Yossi Benayoun - n/a.

Arsenal now have the joint-most errors leading to goals (9 along with Wigan) PLUS four own goals of course. A lot of self-inflicted pain.
via orbinho

i just blame depth of sqaud
we should have rotate but we hadnt that much of options apart from some positions like rosa or yossi for arteta

lets not over react that we arent good enough or something
of course some reinforcements needed but we can compete for 3rd or 4th place
have a faith

Starting RVP twice in 3 days proved wrong. He was anonymous after first 30 mins.

And playing Chamakh would've been better, right?

Despite Gervinho and Walcott's inconsistencies out wide, they were an outlet and provided pace on the break. Taking BOTH off for Rosicky and Benayoun was crazy and failed miserably.

Why was it crazy? Arsenal weren't getting out their own half with them in the side, and both were poor. Rosicky and Benayoun are too hard working players with more discipline. Brining them on when you're trying to defend a lead was the right thing to do.

Plus you've got to take fatigue into account here, as well.

I've updated the first post, by the way.

85 - The last two teams to win after being behind in the 85th min in the PL were playing against Arsenal (Wigan and Fulham). Undone
optajoe