Source: Telegraph
Arsenal 4 Fulham 0: match report
The most anti-climatic of Premier League finales was only momentarily compromised at the Emirates. After just three minutes, news filtered around the stadium that Tottenham had taken a 1-0 lead over Burnley and so moved level on points with Arsenal in third, meaning that one slip would cause the indignity of finishing below their north London rivals. [LNB]That danger, though, proved strictly theoretical, with what was effectively the Fulham reserve team carrying only the most negligible of threats and Arsenal utterly dominant both in possession and chances. [LNB]Arsenal 4 Portsmouth 1: match reportArsenal v Portsmouth previewRobin van Persie had forced early acrobatics from Mark Schwarzer with a curling free-kick, while Samir Nasri dragged an excellent early chance narrowly wide after Andrei Arshavin's cross. [LNB]It was Arshavin's first start for almost a month and a combination of his quick thinking and an uncharacteristic Schwarzer mistake put Arsenal into a 21st minute lead. [LNB]Schwarzer, who is the only Fulham starter likely to keep his place for Wednesday's Europa League final, horribly miss-controlled what should have been a routine clearance to allow Arshavin to take possession. [LNB]Arshavin then cut back inside Schwarzer to shoot into an unguarded Fulham goal, with Fulham's embarrassed goalkeeper left only to honesty hold up his hand in acknowledgement of the error. [LNB]The match was then effectively ended when Theo Walcott created two goals in the space of 11 first-half minutes. [LNB]He crossed for Van Persie to score following a Schwarzer save and then threaded another ball across the Fulham six-yard box which somehow travelled off the heel of Emmanuel Eboue and then through the legs of John Pantsil before being turned into his own goal by Chris Baird. [LNB]Arsenal could and should have finished with an even more comfortable margin of victory. Having helped create two goals, Walcott was less efficient when presented with an outstanding opportunity by another clever back-heel from Eboue, pulling his shot badly wide. [LNB]Van Persie then missed two chances to further extend the lead, having one effort blocked by Schwarzer and then shooting against the post from the rebound. [LNB]There was also controversy when Eboue got behind the Fulham defence and was clearly fouled by Stephen Kelly, only for referee Mike Jones to brandish a yellow card for 'diving'. [LNB]Eboue was outraged by the slur, with the reaction of the crowd underlining his transformation over the past 18 months to Arsenal cult hero. [LNB]There was also rather more ironic cheering every time goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski made a successful catch, although Fulham really did not threaten with enough regularity to test Arsenal's error-prone second-choice goalkeeper. [LNB]At the end of a season that had promised so much but again delivered no silverware, Arsenal did at least finish in some considerable style. [LNB]Samir Nasri had split open the Fulham defence and Carlos Vela duly converted the chance with a delicate lob over the helpless Schwarzer. [LNB]The sight of Johan Djourou - coming on for a first appearance of the season at centre-back - will also have encouraged Wenger, who knows that improving the Arsenal defence remains the overwhelming priority this summer. [LNB]
