Robin van Persie scored in the second-half after an excellent pass from Cesc Fabregas, however Roy Hodgson will feel aggrieved to have come away with nothing after his side created numerous chances.
Fulham dominated much of the game but found Arsenal’s young Italian goalkeeper in inspired form as he saved long range efforts from Clint Dempsey and Andy Johnson and denied Bobby Zamora with an excellent reflex save.
Arsene Wenger’s side had far fewer chances but van Persie made no mistake when presented with his opportunity and slipped the ball past Mark Schwarzer as Arsenal recovered from two consecutive league defeats to go to fifth.
Andrey Arshavin returned from injury for Arsenal alongside Nicolas Bendtner who replaced Eduardo.
Roy Hodgson started with the same side that lost to Wolves last weekend however he was forced into an early change when Damien Duff picked up an injury and was replaced by Zoltan Gera.
And it was the substitute who caused early problems for Arsenal as his cross from the left caused confusion between William Gallas and his goalkeeper Mannone. The Frenchman was flattened by his goalkeeper as they both went for the ball, with Mannone catching.
Arsenal could have opened the scoring when Fabregas was sent clear by van Persie. However the Arsenal captain shot wide when he should have crossed for the unmarked Arshavin in the box.
However it was Fulham who looked the more threatening as they hustled Arsenal’s midfield with Mannone saving Johnson’s close range header before denying Gera with a brilliant save low to his right.
Both teams came out looking to break the deadlock after the break and it was Arsenal who took the lead. Paul Konchesky gave the ball away to Fabregas who found van Persie who controlled superbly before firing the ball past Mark Schawzer.
Bendtner almost added a second when he was played in by van Persie, however, Schwarzer made an excellent save to deny the Dane before Mannone denied Johnson again from Bobby Zamora’s cross as Fulham looked for an equaliser.
Fulham continued to press but couldn’t find the target with both Clint Dempsey and Zamora having shots blocked and deflected wide.
Johnson hit a fierce low shot from outside the box, however Mannone dived low to his left before pulling off an excellent reflex save to stop Zamora’s header from four yards and guarantee three points for Arsenal.
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