Arsenal held to 2-2 draw by 10-man Fulham

[1/4]Soccer Football – Premier League – Arsenal v Fulham – Emirates Stadium, London, Britain – August 26, 2023 Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus in action with Fulham’s Bernd Leno REUTERS/Tony Obrien Acquire Licensing Rights

LONDON, Aug 26 (Reuters) – Arsenal were held to a 2-2 home draw by 10-man Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday, denying Mikel Arteta’s side provisional top spot in the table.

Fulham struck gold in 57 seconds when Andreas Pereira pounced on a loose back pass from Bukayo Saka and the midfielder saw goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale well off his line, pulling the trigger from 30 yards out to score and silence the home crowd.

But Arsenal won a penalty for a foul on Fabio Vieira after the hour-mark and Saka redeemed himself with a confident spot kick in the pouring rain. Arsenal made it 2-1 two minutes later when Vieira whipped in a cross for Eddie Nketiah to score.

Fulham were reduced to 10 men when Calvin Bassey received a second booking for a cynical foul on Nketiah to prevent a counter-attack, but they equalised in the 87th minute when Joao Palhinha swept home from a corner to rescue a point.

Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Pritha Sarkar

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