Arsenal concede later equaliser against TEN-MEN Fulham as Mikel Arteta’s side drop costly points

Arsenal conceded a late equaliser against Fulham despite Marco Silva’s side having been down to 10 men.

Last season Arsenal topped the Premier League table for some 248 days over the course of this campaign, only to be pipped to the line by Manchester City, after dropping several needless points in the run-in. Indeed, that is the longest period in history a club has been at the English top-flight summit without being crowned champions.

This term Arsenal endeavoured to not repeat the same mistakes, with the club hoping to go toe-to-toe with City at the top for the second year in succession.

The Gunners have spent more than £200million on the likes of Kai Havertz, Jurrien Timber and Declan Rice in a bid to pip Pep Guardiola’s side to the title.

Which is why Arsenal fans will be stunned by Saturday’s topsy-turvy affair against Fulham.

The Gunners conceded an early goal after mistakes by Bukayo Saka and Aaron Ramsdale allowed Andreas Pereira to score in the opening two minutes.

However, Arteta’s side ruthlessly came back to claim a 2-1 advantage, courtesy of a Saka penalty and Eddie Nketiah tap-in.

And when Calvin Bassey was sent off late in the second half another Arsenal win appeared a formality. The Fulham defender cynically blocked Nketiah on the halfway line as Arsenal were racing through on the counter

But moments later, in the 87th minute, Joao Palhinha bundled home at a corner to see a stunned Emirates fall silent in shock.

Arsenal fans’ overriding feeling will be one of frustration as the club failed to move above rivals Tottenham and into top spot in the Premier League, with sloppy errors undermining Arteta’s side.

But Fulham will be heartened by the result after enduring a difficult start to the season.

Speaking to the BBC Palhinha said: “I came from an injury and it was tough for me this last month because I miss all the pre-season with my team-mates. It is really good to be back and to help my team-mates and finish the game like this. Unfortunately we didn’t win but I think it is a good result. It is always tough to play against Arsenal.

“We came to try to win but the most important thing was the effort we showed until the end, even with 10 men.

“It was tough in the last 10 minutes. I go to the back line and we tried to give our all until the end to defend the spaces and it meant we could achieve a good result.

“The manager said we needed to give better value to the ball and we gave up a little bit of possession. We have the quality to do better with the ball. The effort was amazing from all the players and that is the soul of this team.”