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LONDON (Reuters) – Arsenal kicked off their Premier League campaign with a 3-0 win over promoted Fulham thanks to goals from Alexandre Lacazette, new signing Gabriel and captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the opening match of the season on Saturday.
Newcomers Gabriel and Willian enjoyed an excellent debut for the Gunners, who made an easy job of their short trip through London to Craven Cottage and dominated against a toothless Fulham.
Lacazette scored the season’s first goal in the eighth minute after poor home defense before 22-year-old Brazilian defender Gabriel, who arrived at Arsenal from Lille 1 Lille, made it 2-0 at 49 with a header from close range.
Captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put the icing on the cake with a superb shot from the top corner in the 57th minute and missed a couple of times in the final stages to inflict even more damage on the home side.
Right-back Denis Odoi forced a save from Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno early on, but that was the best for Fulham, whose opening day performance suggests staying in the top flight could be a difficult task.
Lacazette was left with the simple task of putting the ball at point blank range after a comedy of errors by the locals, who enjoyed a streak of good luck when Willian hit the post with a free kick in the 22nd minute.
Gabriel made it 2-0 with a header after a corner kick from Willian, who racked up his second assist of the day as he prepared Aubameyang for the third in his first game for Arsenal after his summer transfer from Chelsea.
A delightful pass from Willian from midfield found Aubameyang on the left wing and the forward sliced inside to unleash a scratchy shot from inside the area that passed Marek Rodak, who was caught in the air.
The home keeper did well to block a point-blank shot from Aubameyang, who had another shot cleared off the line by a defender in the closing minutes.
Even 3-0 down, Fulham could barely get out of its own field with its midfield chasing shadows and a porous defense at sea every time Arsenal advanced.
(Written by Zoran Milosavljevic; Edited by Toby Davis)
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