The Premier League title may be fading from view once again, but Arsenal are at least keeping leaders Liverpool honest.
A 2-1 victory over visitors Fulham on Tuesday, sealed by Bukayo Saka’s second-half goal seven minutes after making his long-awaited return from injury, cut the Merseysiders’ cushion at the top of the table to nine points before their match against Everton at Anfield on Wednesday, with Mikel Arteta’s side currently having played one game more.
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It wasn’t a perfect night — centre-back Gabriel limped off early on with what appeared to be a hamstring problem and there was no clean sheet as Rodrigo Muniz scored in second-half stoppage time — but this was a timely boost ahead of next Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg, also at the Emirates Stadium, against Real Madrid.
We analyse the major talking points.
Saka returns in the nick of time
Saka is back. Seven minutes after his return to action from the bench was greeted with a huge roar from the home crowd, he earned an even bigger one by stooping to head home his first Premier League goal since November.
The England forward’s lengthy absence has been part of a difficult period for Arsenal, one in which they’ve gone out of both domestic cups and seen their latest Premier League challenge falter. His return here, just over a week before that first leg against Madrid, will ignite some hope there could be life left in their season yet.
Bukayo Saka is mobbed by his team-mates after scoring (Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)
While Arteta intimated in his pre-match news conference that Saka was ready to start, few fans arrived at the Emirates expecting to see the 23-year-old in the starting line-up. For some time now, that Madrid tie has been the clear target. This week’s games against Fulham here and away against Everton on Saturday are, for Saka, about proving his fitness ahead of the resumption of the Champions League.
It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that Arsenal’s season now rests wholly on that two-legged affair against Spain’s defending European champions.
While this was a welcome three points, there was a sense among the crowd that the most significant moments were those with ramifications for the Madrid tie. Saka’s return should build some much-needed belief.
Gabriel exit gives Arteta a big headache
When a yellow card against Colombia ruled Gabriel out of Brazil’s second game of the March international break, Arsenal fans took it as a welcome stroke of luck. It meant the 27-year-old centre-half could return to London Colney in good time, and with fresher legs.
Football can be a cruel game. Just 16 minutes after the resumption of Premier League action last night, Gabriel went off clutching his hamstring and wearing a facial expression that suggested his chances of facing Madrid are slim at best.
Arsenal fans will wait and hope for good news from Arteta and the medical staff, but watching Gabriel disappear immediately down the tunnel will not have filled them with optimism.
Gabriel limps off with a leg injury (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
It’s undoubtedly a big blow to Arsenal, who will have hoped to rely on the defensive foundation provided by his partnership with William Saliba in the upcoming Champions League tie.
On top of the loss of Gabriel, Jurrien Timber also looked in pain at various moments during this game before he was withdrawn in the 77th minute.
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Arsenal fans will have concerns over the availability of fellow defenders Riccardo Calafiori and Ben White, too. “He had a little niggle two days ago,” Arteta said of White pre-game. “Yesterday we tried, he wasn’t feeling right, so we decided not to put him in the squad today.”
Gabriel was replaced against Fulham by Jakub Kiwior, but if White can prove his fitness over the next seven days, he might be the obvious choice to partner Saliba in the centre of defence against Madrid.
How crucial are Merino’s goals to this team?
Arsenal’s quarter-final with Madrid will be a glamour tie graced by some serious in-form attacking talent — Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo… and Merino?
The Spanish midfielder’s goal against Fulham was his fifth in eight games since moving into the centre-forward role as cover for Arsenal’s many injuries in forward positions. It meant he had scored four of their last five Premier League goals, and Merino is now having the most prolific league campaign of his career. He’s doing a remarkably good job — if Arsenal had signed a striker in January who’d made this sort of impact, it’d be hailed as a masterstroke.
Mikel Merino celebrates another Arsenal goal (Justin Setterfield / Getty Images)
Arsenal’s decision to proceed without signing a forward in that window is certainly open to criticism. Arteta’s response, however, repurposing Merino as a makeshift centre-forward, has been rather impressive.
Merino, who also scored for Spain during the March international break, is very much a midfielder doing a forward’s job, but there are times when his gait and physical presence are somewhat reminiscent of another tall, powerful forward who played for the club alongside Arteta a decade ago: Olivier Giroud.
What next for Arsenal?
Saturday, April 5: Everton (Away), Premier League, 12.30pm UK, 7.30am ET
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(Top photo: Bukayo Saka celebrates; Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
