Arsenal slumped to a 2-1 defeat against Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday evening, marking their second back-to-back defeat following a 2-0 loss at home to West Ham United last weekend. Manager Mikel Arteta labeled the defeat as Arsenal’s “worst performance of the season.”
“We certainly need that reset after today, because that’s going to be in our tummy for a few days,” Arteta stated after the final whistle. “The game against West Ham feels very different, so you can move on. It’s football, it can happen. What happened today cannot happen again, because if you do that, we will never have the chance to be where we want to be. Today could have been a beautiful day to end the year, that’s for sure.”
The Gunners appeared to be off to a promising start when midfielder Bukhayo Saka scored to put Arsenal in the lead after five minutes of play. Raul Jimenez drew level in the 29th minute, while Bobby De Cordova-Reid put the hosts in front in the 59th minute. Fulham were able to protect their lead despite only maintaining 39% ball possession.
