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Arsenal opened the Premier League season with a convincing 3-0 win at Fulham on Saturday, when their new signings stole the show. Both Willian and Gabriel shone within an empty Craven Cottage, as the hosts did little to defend and little to threaten. Willian had two assists and was involved in all three goals, while Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Gabriel Magalhaes scored.
Scott Parker’s team opened star forward Aleksandar Mitrovic on the bench before he entered the game in the 63rd minute, and the attack gave Arsenal next to nothing to worry about for much of the 90 minutes.
Here are three takeaways from the match:
Willian was the best player in the field
Signing him on a free transfer from Chelsea seems like a brilliant move in a match. The Brazilian international was involved in all three goals and probably should have scored a couple. But his first shot in front of goal was blocked, leading to Lacazette’s first goal, and then he hit the left post on a free kick.
The second goal of his team came in his fine center from the corner that found Gabriel’s head perfectly in the area.
Finally, this cross pass to Aubameyang led to the final goal that ended this match in the 57th minute:
Obviously that’s a great ending, but congratulations to Willian for seeing him go into space and get him on his feet perfectly.
Every time he has the ball, he is a threat. He proved it to Arsenal on the first day.
Gabriel starts badly, but ends well in debut
The former Lille defender took a moment to adjust and came close to making a costly early mistake by letting a ball go to Bernd Leno when it shouldn’t have, but other than that he was brilliant. He kept his attackers in front of him, timed his tackles well, and played the ball forward with precision.
His goal was the icing on the cake and his performance will give Arsenal fans hope that their defensive woes will soon be over.
Where do the Cottagers go from here?
It wasn’t a great start, but no one expected Fulham, who played in the Championship last season, to get a point from Arsenal anyway. You can’t really judge this team without Mitrovic as a starter, but it seems like Fulham needs to make a move or two to fuel the attack, specifically creativity. He showed very little despite having the possession to do so.
After 90 minutes, Fulham has as many yellow cards (two) as there are shots on goal.
It’s early, but a slow start can be a fatal blow.
Fulham 0, Arsenal 3 (FINAL)
⚽ Arsenal: Alexandre Lacazette (8 ‘)
⚽ Arsenal: Gabriel Magalhães (49 ‘)
⚽ Arsenal: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (57 ‘)
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