Fulham vs Arsenal: Mikel Arteta ‘gutted’ after frustrating draw

A “disappointed” Mikel Arteta said Arsenal deserved more from their draw with Fulham on Saturday but admitted the quality shown by the home side at Craven Cottage made the result easier to accept.

Defender William Saliba saved Arsenal a point with a typical set-piece in the 52nd minute after Raúl Jiménez had scored Fulham’s first-half opener.

“It’s a shame we didn’t win it. We absolutely deserve it,” Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta told reporters. “That’s the quality of the opposition, that’s why you can’t cry about it.”

“We created all the chances, but it’s so difficult to attack.”

Arsenal had 70% possession and Bukayo Saka missed what would surely have been a late winner, but his shot was ruled out for offside by the video assistant referee.

“We did almost everything we had to do to win it… For millimeters we could have been here with a really dominant win,” Arteta said.

“It’s never enough if you don’t score three, four or five goals. If they (the opposing side) play 11 straight balls, I want to win 11. We want to win 100%,” he said.

Fulham have been a thorn in Arsenal’s side, prevailing with a home win and a draw at the Emirates last season.

But Arteta defended his makeshift defense on Sunday when asked whether they would have conceded the early goal to Jiménez if injured defender Gabriel Magalhães had been available.

“I can’t promise you it wouldn’t happen with other staff. “Sometimes you have to praise your opponent,” he said.

“We had to change the whole unit. That’s it, they (the injured players) are not available. We have to react to that and I’m very happy with the way they did it,” he said, particularly praising defender Jakub Kiwior, who stepped in for the missing Gabriel.

The draw pushed Arsenal Chelsea into second place in the Premier League table, although Enzo Maresca’s side have a chance of regaining that spot in their game against London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.