Nketiah's late leveller saves Arsenal from Fulham defeat

Mikel Arteta's side were seconds away from a first ever home defeat against Fulham as they laboured to find a response to Josh Maja's second half penalty. But Nketiah pushed Fulham closer to relegation deep into stoppage-time when he tapped in after the visitors failed to clear a corner.

It was a major setback for third bottom Fulham, who are six points behind fourth bottom Burnley and fifth bottom Brighton with just five games left.

Burnley visit Manchester United later on Sunday and Brighton travel to Chelsea on Tuesday. Burnley and Brighton will still have a game in hand on the Cottagers after those matches. After losing their previous four matches, Fulham were on course to mark Scott Parker's 100th match in charge with a memorable scalp. Instead, they slipped closer to an immediate return to the Championship.

Next up for Fulham is a west London derby at Chelsea on Saturday before a decisive clash with Burnley on May 8.

Ninth placed Arsenal are nine points adrift of the top four and their best hope of reaching next season's Champions League is winning the Europa League. Arteta's men face Villarreal in the semi-finals after cruising to a 4-0 victory at Slavia Prague in the quarter-final second leg on Thursday. The Spaniard made five changes to the side that thrashed Slavia, with Gabriel Martinelli among those to come in as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang remained absent with malaria.

 

April 18, 2021

Martinelli should have given Arsenal the lead inside 40 seconds when he ran onto Alexandre Lacazette's pass and clipped his shot just wide. Martinelli threatened again with a low shot on the turn from Emile Smith Rowe's cross, but Alphonse Areola sprawled to his left to make a good save.

Arsenal thought they had taken the lead when Dani Ceballos looped his header past Areola from Hector Bellerin's cross. But the Spaniard was denied his first Premier League goal after VAR ruled Bukayo Saka's toes were in an offside position in the build-up.

Saka hit the outside of the near post with a cross-shot before Fulham received another helping hand from VAR in the 59th minute. Mario Lemina was ruled just onside as he burst into the penalty area before making a theatrical tumble after Gabriel stood on his foot. After a lengthy review, Maja took the penalty, lifting it high into the net for his first goal in nine games and only his third since arriving on loan from Bordeaux in February.

There was more frustration for Arsenal when Lacazette limped off injured. In a tense finale, Nicolas Pepe's header from Martinelli's cross was brilliantly saved by Areola, the keeper sticking out his foot to kick the close-range effort to safety. But Fulham's nerve cracked with seconds left in seven minutes of stoppage-time. Bobby Decordova-Reid needlessly conceded a corner and from the set-piece, Arsenal keeper Mat Ryan came up and remarkably rose highest for a header that reached Granit Xhaka.

When Xhaka's low drive was pushed out by Areola, Nketiah was on hand to break Fulham's hearts as he tapped in from close-range.