Source: Daily_Mail
Fulham 0 Arsenal 1: Now Vito Mannone is saving face with the Gunners
Vito Mannone's favourite from a string of excellent saves was the one which smacked him full in the face. 'It has made me a little bit uglier,' grinned the rookie goalkeeper, but that will be fine by his manager. [LNB]Arsene Wenger has long been searching for the knack of winning ugly and these three points at Fulham may finally convince him he is making progress in the right direction.[LNB] Robin van Persie scored the only goal, early in the second half, but Mannone's shot-stopping heroics preserved the clean sheet and earned him a bear hug from each of his team-mates at the final whistle.[LNB] Unbeatable: Young Arsenal goalkeeper Vito Mannone dives to keep out a goal-bound header from Fulham striker Bobby Zamora (third right)[LNB] 'That's the best game I've ever played,' said 21-year-old Mannone. 'When I've played in the past it wasn't so important, but in the first team you have to show what you can do and I think I did that. [LNB]'The boss told me to stay relaxed, to use my technique and play as in training. It's always better to have lots of saves to make than have nothing to do for 80 minutes and then make one save. That's more difficult.' [LNB]It is fair to say, Mannone's career could have started better. Sent on loan to Barnsley three years ago, his mistakes cost the Tykes a goal in each of his first two Championship games and he didn't play for them again. [LNB]Fun day: Gunners goal-scorer Robin Van Persie leads the plaudits[LNB]He was thrust suddenly into his Champions League debut for Arsenal against Standard Liege this month and was picking the ball from his net twice inside the first five minutes.[LNB] Mannone's confidence was shaken and Wenger considered leaving him out at Craven Cottage and handing a Premier League debut to Polish teenager Wojciech Szczesny.[LNB] Fear and uncertainty can tear through a team who lack faith in their keeper but, after another 15 wobbly minutes at Fulham, the young Italian got the break he needed.[LNB] Springing instinctively to his right, he parried a header from Andy Johnson only for the rebound to drop for Clint Dempsey, who looked certain to score. Mannone spread himself in hope and took the full force of Dempsey's volley in his face. [LNB]Confidence pulsed through his body. Twenty minutes later, he was unfurling his six-foot frame to turn a low drive from Zoltan Gera around a post. He then denied Johnson twice more in the second half and produced a reflex stop to prevent Bobby Zamora heading in a late equaliser. [LNB]With Manuel Almunia still out with a chest infection and Lukasz Fabianski recovering from knee surgery, Wenger had seen enough to promise Mannone another start in the Champions League at home to Olympiakos tomorrow. [LNB]At last things appear to be looking up for the goalkeeper plucked by Arsenal from Atalanta's youth ranks at 16, just after the death of his father. He is a popular figure and a talented artist too, amazing his teammates with a sketch of a lion, when they were asked to doodle something during a pre-season trip to Austria.[LNB] 'I have grown a lot and worked hard to be here,' said Mannone, who has been likened in Italy to the former Juventus goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi. 'I came here when I was very young. I was 15 when I did my trial, I was 18 when I went to Barnsley. I was not ready. I can tell that now but it gave me a lot of experience.[LNB] 'Even when things went badly for me, it has given me confidence to come back and grow from that. After five years it makes me happy to be here. I am only 21, which is very young for a goalkeeper.' [LNB]MATCH STATSFULHAM (4-4-2): Schwarzer 6; Pantsil 6, Hughes 7, Hangeland 5, Konchesky 6; Duff (Gera 9min, 7), Murphy 6, Etuhu 5 (Greening 83), Dempsey 5; Johnson 6, Zamora 5. Booked: Murphy, Pantsil, Zamora, Konchesky. [LNB]ARSENAL (4-3-2-1): Mannone 8; Sagna 6, Gallas 7, Vermaelen 6, Clichy 6; Fabregas 6, Song 6, Diaby 5; Bendtner 6, Arshavin 5 (Rosicky 69, 4); Van Persie 6 (Eboue 83).[LNB]Man of the match: Vito Mannone.[LNB]Referee: Martin Atkinson. [LNB]Mannone's efforts eased the Gunners towards the top four. Crisis has been averted with four straight wins after back-to-back defeats in Manchester against United and City. [LNB]Fulham, however, are suffering after last season's best-ever Premier League finish and the rigours of a European campaign. Damien Duff limped off with a calf injury after only nine minutes and Roy Hodgson's team will dip into the relegation zone if West Ham beat Manchester City tonight. [LNB]'It's not something that bothers me,' said Hodgson. 'I know that if we continue to play as we are playing and create the chances we are creating, then we will score the goals. We were just unfortunate to come across a goalkeeper in splendid form.'[LNB] It's Arsenal united without Emmanuel Adebayor, claims Gael ClichyVan Persie warns Arsenal cannot take any challenge lightly on Euro pathARSENAL FC NEWS FROM AROSS THE WEBFULHAM FC NEWS FROM AROSS THE WEB [LNB] Explore more:People:Bobby Zamora, Damien Duff, Martin Atkinson, Robin van PersiePlaces:Manchester, Italy, Austria
