Set-piece edge at the Cottage: Trossard strikes as Arsenal move three clear

Leandro Trossard’s second-half tap-in from a corner settled a tight derby at Craven Cottage, edging Arsenal past a resilient Fulham and lifting Mikel Arteta’s side three points clear at the top of the Premier League. In a contest short on rhythm and chances, Arsenal’s now-familiar dead-ball efficiency supplied the difference.

Fulham began on the front foot and restricted Arsenal’s open‑play threat for long stretches, but once the visitors increased the tempo after the interval the pressure told. Trossard arrived at the back post in the 58th minute to turn in after Gabriel’s near‑post glance from Bukayo Saka’s delivery, and a later penalty awarded to Saka was overturned after a VAR review, preserving the slender 1-0 that Arsenal’s defence protected without allowing a shot on target.

Fulham’s fast start meets Arsenal’s resolve

Marco Silva’s side made the early running. Harry Wilson twice threatened, Raúl Jiménez also went close, and 18‑year‑old Josh King continued his eye‑catching emergence with a mazy burst and cross that David Raya had to help over his bar. The home crowd sensed vulnerability as Arsenal took time to find their passing lanes.

Arsenal steadied and thought they had a spectacular opener when Riccardo Calafiori lashed into the top corner after combining with Trossard, only for an offside flag to cut short the celebrations. The pattern remained bitty, much of the play in front of Fulham’s organised block.

Corner craft decides a contest short on chances

The breakthrough arrived via a now-familiar route. Saka’s inswinger was flicked on by Gabriel and Trossard, alert at the far post, swept in from close range. It was Arsenal’s 50th league goal from a corner since the start of the 2022/23 season, a benchmark no other Premier League side has approached in that period, underlining why opponents find their restarts so hard to repel.

Beyond that moment the visitors pressed for a clincher more through persistence than invention. Bernd Leno denied Saka and later frustrated Viktor Gyökeres, who also shot wastefully over as his goalless run for club and country extended to a ninth game. Fulham, tidy in possession, struggled to prise openings against William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães, with Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber unflinching either side.

Saka’s surge and a penalty that wasn’t

Saka grew into the game after a subdued start, repeatedly driving at Ryan Sessegnon and drawing Arsenal up the pitch. He finished with a player‑of‑the‑match display that included 14 duels won, six chances created and 13 touches in the box, and crucially it was his corner that created the decisive goal. As he put it afterwards, he had taken some "rubbish corners" early on, but he kept going and Arsenal "got there in the end".

When Saka wriggled into the area and collided with Kevin, the Fulham substitute, referee Anthony Taylor initially pointed to the spot. On review, though, Taylor saw that Kevin brushed the ball as the pair bumped knees, and the decision was overturned. Any lingering tension was largely cosmetic; Arsenal’s control out of possession made an equaliser an increasingly remote prospect.

Youthful spark, defensive blow

Fulham’s best passages flowed through King, who, fresh from his first England Under‑21 start, again showed maturity by receiving in tight spaces, carrying the ball and committing defenders. Wilson had their clearest sights of goal but could not find the target, which ultimately told against a defence this miserly.

Silva was forced into a first‑half reshuffle when Joachim Andersen was injured and Issa Diop took his place. The back line largely limited Arsenal in open play, but one lapse at a corner proved decisive. "It’s frustrating. It’s hard to stop," Silva said of Arsenal’s offensive set‑pieces. "They are lucky because they have very good takers too... these are the games where you have to keep the focus 95, 100 minutes."

Grinding at the top

For Arteta, this was the sort of functional 1-0 that title chases require. Arsenal had dropped points on their previous two visits to Craven Cottage, but their fifth clean sheet in eight league games and an eight‑match unbeaten run in all competitions now frame a different mood. "The recent history wasn’t in our favour and we wanted to change that... If I have to describe the players, it’s tough and very, very willing," the manager said.

The victory moved Arsenal three points clear of Manchester City and four ahead of Liverpool, who host Manchester United on Sunday. Fulham, beaten for a third straight game and 14th in the table, could take encouragement from their structure and energy but were ultimately undone by a corner against the division’s best at exploiting them.