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After forty-two years as an Arsenal fan, and a football fanatic, you’d think that I’d be used to the rude interruption of the international break by now… well, I’M NOT!

I despise the international break, even though I love the major tournaments. The Euros, and the World Cup, are welcomed to my screen, with open arms… BUT, I just want the players to somehow be ready to play for their respective nations, with no training, and no breaks in domestic football, whatsoever! Now, is THAT too much to ask?!

Aaaaaanywhoooo… Before we were so rudely interrupted, Arsenal had been crowned champi… Nah.. HAHA!.. I’m just practicing.

No, Arsenal had returned to the top of the Premier League, for the first time since the 23/24 season.

It felt so good to reach the summit, at the expense of West Ham, because of their previous wins against us.

The revenge tour now continues, and after serving cold dishes to Newcastle, and West Ham, our next diners, are The Cottagers… Yes, that’s right, Fulham F.C.

Fulham are undoubtedly a good side, but our last couple of results against them, still annoys me when I think about it. We seem to drop points against them, when we need the points most.

Draws against them should’ve been wins, and the loses, should’ve been draws.

This is the second game, in our trio of London Derbies…and we have to make cottage pie, out of The Cottagers, to keep our place at the top of the league. We fought too hard to get there, and we have to fight just as hard, to remain… even THIS early in the season.

Mikel Arteta, and The Arsenal, arrived at Craven Cottage in pretty good shape. All the players returned from international duty, unscathed. No new injuries were reported. (Hallelujah!)

Which I’m sure was a huge relief for Arteta, as our injury record so far this season, has been HORRENDOUS! Maybe our luck is changing, in that area.

Ex-Arsenal players, Bernd Leno, Alex Iwobi, and most recently… Emile Smith-Rowe, all now in the Fulham ranks… adds a little something extra to this fixture.

Fulham lost 3-1 in their last game, away to Bournemouth. Arsenal however, are on the back of a 2-0 win over West Ham. (Stop.. Hammer time!)

Fulham being the home side, means the impetus is on them to attack, so hopefully we won’t face the usual low block defending.

Arteta went with the back four that he’s favoured this season. Calafiori at left-back, Gabriel and Saliba, at the centre of defence… and Jurrien Timber, at right-back.

In the midfield, with Odegaard still injured, it was… Eze, Zubimendi, and Rice.

The front three was Trossard on the left, Gyokeres through the middle, and Saka on the right.

We needed a fast start, which we’ve done in our last couple of games… but we have to be more clinical, with the early chances we’ll inevitably create… and I’m sure Mikel Arteta will be reiterating that, to the players.

Despite nonsensical narratives from the mainstream football media, who’d like you to believe that we haven’t had a fantastic start to the season… and some disgruntled Arsenal fans, complaining that we don’t score enough goals… socks are too long, grass is too green, and water is too wet. Yes, despite all of that incessant whinging… Arsenal keep doing their talking, on the pitch… and they’re speaking loudly, and clearly, with perfect diction.

Here’s confirmation of just how well, The Arsenal, enunciate.

We’ve played 10 games in all competitions, and we’ve won 8 of those games… scoring 20 goals in the process, and only conceded 3.

Only lost 1, and drawn 1.

To STILL hear some Arsenal fans complaining, is both unfathomable, and disappointing.

I cannot help but wonder if these moaners, complainers, whingers, negative Nimrods, and malleable muppets… are even REAL Arsenal fans.

I mean, do they even LOVE Arsenal, or do they just like the club as a friend?

Not even a friend, an acquaintance that you don’t really like, but keep around, just to complain about them. (It’s exhausting to witness)

This whole “Thing” about not celebrating wins, or a run of good form, or goals… because we haven’t won a MAJOR trophy recently… is a foolish notion, and it’s sucking the joy out of football.

People seem to of forgotten what the sport is about! Passion, is being replaced with statistical data, over analysis, and incompetent officiating… and I just hope that for the sake of the game, we get back to BASICS… expeditiously.

Okaaaay, back to more positive Arsenal news… (Well, sort of positive). There’s been some talk of Arsenal increasing the seating capacity at the Emirates stadium, to 70,000… possibly, 75,000.

Now, I understand the thought process behind this, in terms of generating more revenue… BUT, at what cost?

Will this mean having to play all our home games at Wembley, again? (No thanks!!)

Does it mean we’ll have to go back to selling our best players, to help fund this expansion? (Dramatic, I know)

I don’t even want to entertain any thoughts of ground sharing with Tottenham!

They don’t deserve the honour of us gracing their stadium, with our presence. (I shuddered, and threw up in my mouth a little bit, at the thought)

Look, I just feel that we’ve only JUST got back to where we need to be, with regards to competing at the top level, for the top trophies… So doing a stadium development NOW, feels like… well,  the timing isn’t right.

Yes, increasing the seating capacity to an existing stadium, ISN’T the same as building a stadium from scratch… but I think back to when the Emirates was being built, and that was a horrible time in Arsenal’s history.

We had to sell our best players to team’s we’d consider to be our rivals, and we were unable to attract other top players to the club, due to the fact that we were languishing in mediocrity, and just didn’t have the funds.

I just hope that if this expansion goes ahead, that all the aforementioned concerns, are discussed… discussed again, and then… discussed again.

Now, on to the game.

We started rather sluggishly, and misplaced a few simple passes, which invited unnecessary pressure. A few of the players looked heavy legged, and the international duty hangover, seemed to take centre stage in our patterns of play.

Fulham sat back, deep in their own half, with ten men behind the ball… causing space to be a scarce commodity.

In the 16^th minute, Timber played a stupendous diagonal ball over the top, to Trossard on the left… and he played the ball first time to Calafiori in the box, who stroked the ball into the top corner, giving the keeper no chance!

What a goal, what an Arsenal move, and what a shame…the flag immediately went up, for offside. The goal was chalked off.

With Fulham still in their defensive low block, our creative players struggled to make things happen, and this coupled with Arsenal not moving the ball quick enough, gave Fulham a level of comfort, they were reluctant to relinquish.

We didn’t manage to carve out another clear cut chance, until the 37^th minute…  when Saka picked up the ball, slid a neat pass into Gyokeres, and through on goal, his shot was straight at Leno.

Gyokeres just wasn’t getting the service, due to how well Fulham were defending.

The slow tempo to the game continued, and created a subdued atmosphere in the stands.

Singing, and merriment, seemed to be held hostage, by frustration, and anxiety… with no sign of the gag being removed, in sight.

The first half finished 0-0, and the referee’s whistle felt like mercy… because we didn’t play particularly well, and the game wasn’t anything close to a spectacle.

We started the second half a lot brighter, and moving the ball quicker, opened up more spaces.

In the 49^th minute, Eze put a good ball into the box, and though Trossard dragged his shot wide… there were encouraging signs, that a goal was in our near future.

A minute later, Timber passed the ball out to Saka on the right, who was hugging the touchline like the touchline was distraught…and he was consoling it.

Saka at pace, skipped around Sessegon, and drove towards the Fulham box… making the left-back’s presence, seem irrelevant. Saka beat another onrushing defender, and then squared the ball into a dangerous area, but it was blocked, and then cleared. Fulham on the ropes, breathing heavily, but still standing.

Bukayo Saka was seeing much more of the ball now… He demanded it, and welcomed the added responsibility of the captains armband. He looked most likely to change our fortunes, with his driving runs, and intelligent passing. Our Starboy was beating players at will, and he gave Ryan Sessegon  a torrid time… as we continued in search of a goal.

Bukayo Saka, is back to his best.

The clock rudely reminded me, that time wasn’t on our side, but we earned a corner in the 58^th minute, that gave me hope.

Saka put a ball in, that was inviting to attackers, but instilled fear into defenders. Gabriel flicked the ball on with a commanding, towering header…that landed in front of Trossard at the back post… and Trossard turned the ball in from close range. GOOOOOOAAAAAAAL!!!!

The ball actually came off Trossard’s knee, but they all count. 1-0 to the Arsenal!

Shockingly, even though Fulham were 1-0 down, they still didn’t commit players forward, and they stayed in their low block, defensive shape.

Eze made way for Merino, in the 62^nd minute.

It was a difficult game for Eze, because there just simply wasn’t any space for him to create, or run in behind… and him being his own worst critic, he was visibly disappointed in his performance, when he came off.

Eze didn’t face many low block defences, when he was at Crystal Palace, and I feel he needs time to adjust to this…and I’m certain that he will, and be an even better player for it.

Time seemed to of slowed down now, and irritatingly, the clock only showed 65 minutes gone.

Saka, on yet another jinking run… earned a penalty, after being brought down just inside the box.

It most certainly WASN’T a clear an obvious error by the referee, but VAR advised him to look at the screens, nonetheless. The replays showed some contact was made on the ball, but this was AFTER contact was made on Saka’s knee. It was ABSOLUTELY, a penalty!

The referee however, overturned his decision, and not for the first time this season… Arsenal were robbed. No penalty.

Incompetent officiating, gave the Fulham crowd, and the players, a lift… and for a brief moment, Fulham acted like they wanted to score a goal. After a couple of minutes though, they were right back in their defensive shape, hilariously protecting a 1-0 deficit.

Martinelli came on for Trossard in the 81^st minute, and he had a couple of shots saved by Leno. The scoreline remained only 1-0, so the game wasn’t yet won. As we looked so solid defensively though, the 1-0 lead felt less narrow.

Norgaard was introduced for Gyokeres, in the 96th minute.

Gyokeres played well, in terms of creating space for his teammates, and occupying defenders… But it was another game where he didn’t get enough service, for his goal threat to be at optimum levels. It will change…and when it does, the rest of the league will be in all sorts of trouble.

The game finished 1-0 to the Arsenal!! A brilliant result, against a Fulham side that we’ve dropped points against, in the last two seasons.

In addition to that, we didn’t play particularly well, faced a low defensive block, and had a few jaded players, after the international break… yet we STILL found a way to win.

We showed incredible mental strength, and fought tirelessly, for the 3 points.

Fulham didn’t have a single shot on target, so for the second consecutive game, Arsenal have prevented their opponents from having a shot on target.

The last time Arsenal achieved this feat, was the 04/05 season…which just happens to be the last time we won the Premier League.

After this Fulham win, we’ve now only conceded 3 goals in 11 games. Unbelievable defensive display, so far this season… and long may it continue.

Long may our set-piece goals continue. Long may our will to win, mental strength, belief, and incredible team spirit… continue. Long may our place at the TOP of the league, continue.

We’re at home to Atletico Madrid next, in the Champions League. Let’s continue this win streak we’re on, and take our points tally to 9, which will put us in a great position in the table.