Fulham? We Went the Whole Hog!

Good evening on a wonderful May Bank Holiday here in the UK, and Happy Star Wars Day to all those who celebrate. 

Tonight, we watch (or in my case, stay far away from) to see if the mighty Everton can bring down the evil sky blue monsters better known as Manchester City. I only have half-hope that we get the outcome that we want, City dropping points, and I refuse to let the hope-ometer fill any more or else I'll risk my spirits being crushed beyond repair. 

But before we talk any more about all that scary stuff, let's cast our minds back to a sunny-but-rainy early Saturday evening in North London...

The starting XI for the Fulham game was interesting, I'd even say exciting, and I was really intrigued to see how Myles Lewis-Skelly would get on in his first Premier League start in central midfield. It was great to see the manager take a bit of a risk with the lineup despite it being a pressure game that gave us an opportunity to put extra pressure on Man City ahead of their next league bout. 

It was also refreshing to see Calafiori return to the XI after yet another period of absence. He is so frustrating because I love everything he is about but he is one of far too many in this squad that just cannot sustain a period of fitness. 

Fulham were...I think you know what word I want to use. Coincidentally, they were probably producing a lot of 'it' in the lead up to this game as a result of a reported illness bug ravaging the Cottager's camp. They didn't press us with any sort of intensity, nor did they hold any sort of organised defensive shape to thwart us. 

But enough about them, I thought we produced one of our best performances in a long time. That first half in particular was really encouraging. Our defence was as resolute as ever, and this time they didn't spend most of the game passing it between them or taking silly risks to gift the opposition hope and momentum! 

Our midfield was also elevated to a level above, with Rice continuing his role change to a more defensive '6' and MLS driving us forward to apply consistent pressure to the Fulham defence. Eze returned to start and also continued his recent pleasing form, providing the will to attack, cut open the opposition defence and conjuring the magic required to leave Fulham scrambling in their third. 

Now the attack - Trossard, whilst not back to his best by any means, was much improved on his recent performances. Saka, I mean how great was it to see him back to his best, even if it was just for 45 minutes? When he left Jiménez on his backside to swing that cross into Gyökeres for the first goal, I think I let out an audible shriek. As for the big Swede, I think this was up there with the very best of his performances for Arsenal. He was a constant threat, linked up better with his teammates and was always willing to make the runs that pulled apart the Fulham defenders to give our other attackers the space they needed to work their magic. 

The second goal from Bukayo was really pleasing to see and brought me back to the good old days of two and three years ago when he was doing that sort of thing on a weekly basis. For the third, yet another for our battering-ram striker, we were lucky enough to witness the lesser-spotted Gyökeres headed goal! That's how you know it was a good day. 

It meant we went six points clear at the top of the table, making it essential for Man City to win their next two tricky fixtures away to Everton and Bournemouth. These are two teams fighting tooth and nail for European football, something huge to play for, who have caused all sorts of teams problems recently. They are coached by a couple of the best managers in the league - the up-and-coming and soon-to-be departing Iraola and the long-in-the-tooth Arteta mentor David Moyes. Am I hyping them up too much? Have I jinxed it yet? Ok, I'll move on. 

Next up for Arsenal, there is the small matter of a Champions League semi-final second leg at home to Atlético Madrid, which is finely balanced at 1-1 with a chance to make it to our second ever Champions League Final, 20 years after the first one. The magnitude of this game is really starting to hit me now, especially since I am going to the game and I cannot wait to see this "biggest ever tifo" they've cooked up before kick off. Because of the Fulham result and performance, we go into this with more confidence and I truly believe we can do this, but it will be far from easy. This season still brings so much promise for us and winning this game could give us the final big swing of energy to take us through those final three league games. Win the next four games in all competitions and who knows? We could be about to witness something truly special. I'll not get ahead of myself though, one game at a time. 

Cross those fingers!