Arsenal opened their 20/21 season by thumping Fulham 3-0 at Craven Cottage in Saturday’s early kick-off with Willian and Gabriel superb.
Ahead of what seems to be an impending move away from the club, Mikel Arteta left Emi Martinez out of the squad altogether.
There was also no place for William Saliba nor Mesut Ozil with Dani Ceballos only making the bench.
The surprise was seeing Gabriel start but the Brazilian impressed, even if you forget about his debut goal. As did Lacazette who scored the opening Premier League goal of the season for the second time (he also did it in 2017).
He also showed that he probably has been listening to Arteta, netting away from home.
The star of the show, however, was the other new boy who started – Willian, who grabbed three assists.
"Gabriel did really well, he hadn't played for six months!"
"Mo Elneny was brilliant today again."
Praise for his players and an update on Lacazette and Aubameyang's futures after a job well done for Mikel Arteta.@TheDesKelly pic.twitter.com/mwV9W1xMAK
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) September 12, 2020
Fulham vs Arsenal player ratings
Fulham lineup
Marek Rodak 4.8
Michael Hector 5.6
Got booked, should have had a second for his foul on Granit Xhaka and then cleared one off the line a few minutes later. Had the game been tight, he probably would have scored, too.
Denis Odoi 5.8
Neeskens Kebano 6.1
Tom Cairney 5.7
Got booked.
Tim Ream 5.5
Ivan Cavaleiro 6.6
Harrison Reed 6.0
Joe Bryan 5.8
Josh Onomah 5.9
Aboubakar Kamara 5.4
Subs: Areola, Christie, Le Marchand, Anguissa (Kebano ’63), Knockaert, De Cordova-Reid (Onomah 75′), Mitrovic (Kamara 63′).
Arsenal lineup
Bernd Leno 7.5
Cleansheet.
Rob Holding 7.6
Gabriel 7.9
Scored on his debut.
Gabriel gets a goal on his Arsenal debut 💪
Willian with the assist too, new signings making the perfect start! pic.twitter.com/8CHxZpZeCU
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) September 12, 2020
Kieran Tierney 7.1
Hector Bellerin 7
Got booked.
Mohamed Elneny 7.0
Granit Xhaka 7.1
Ainsley Maitland-Niles 6.8
MAN OF THE MATCH Willian 8.8
Hit the post, assisted all three of Arsenal’s goals.
Just the 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 assists for Willian in the first 57 minutes of his debut… 😳#FULARS pic.twitter.com/s5VymGDjld
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) September 12, 2020
Alexandre Lacazette 7.8
Scored away from home.
First goal of the season by Lacazette #PremierLeague #ARSFUL #FULARS pic.twitter.com/7LisRtSIiJ
— Sport Series (@sportseries247) September 12, 2020
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 7.9
Got booked, scored.
Another great team goal for Mikel Arteta's @Arsenal 🙌
Passing from front to back, captain Aubameyang with a sublime finish 🔥 pic.twitter.com/732lVRDbJG
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) September 12, 2020
Subs: Matt Macey, Sead Kolasinac, Dani Ceballos (Xhaka 78′), Joe Willock, Bukayo Saka, Nicolas Pepe (Wilian 75′), Eddie Nketiah (Lacazette 86′)
Fulham vs Arsenal officials
Referee Chris Kavanagh 7
Assistant 1 Daniel Cook n/a
Assistant 2 Sian Massey-Ellis n/a
4th Official Kevin Friend n/a
VAR David Coote n/a
Ass VAR Nick Hopton n/a
"It's about trusting each other, trusting what you have been asked to do."
Well drilled. Well coached.@rioferdy5 breaks down how Arsenal have improved defensively under Mikel Arteta 💪 pic.twitter.com/NdOP3pwZXe
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) September 12, 2020
Ratings via Fotmob
