Last-gasp Arsenal equaliser nudges Fulham closer to relegation
Eddie Nketiah equalised six minutes into a stoppage time in a sickening blow for Fulham in their battle against relegation.
Josh Maja’s penalty appeared to have given the club a first-ever win at Arsenal and dramatically boosted their hopes of staying up.
But Nketiah tapped in the rebound after keeper Alphonse Areola had parried Granit Xhaka’s shot in the final seconds.
Arsenal defender Rob Holding was in an offside position close to Areola but was adjudged to be not interfering with play.
The pressure was on third-from-bottom Fulham after fellow strugglers Newcastle won on Saturday to move nine points clear of the Whites.
A victory at the Emirates Stadium would have taken them to within four points of Brighton and Burnley.
And they were so close to taking the three points.
Maja lifted his spot-kick into the roof of the net after Gabriel had brought down Mario Lemina.
VAR confirmed that Lemina was onside in the build-up to him being fouled.
Arsenal largely dominated a first half in which Gabriel Martinelli missed two great chances to put them ahead and they had a goal disallowed by the narrowest of margins.
Dani Ceballos headed into the net but VAR showed Bukayo Saka was fractionally offside.
The Gunners continued to push forward after going behind.
Nicolas Pepe’s close-range header was kept out by a combination of Areola and Tosin Adarabioyo.
Areola also produced a near-post save to deny Martinelli, but Fulham were unable to hang on.
Fulham: Areola, Aina, Andersen, Tosin, Robinson, Lemina, Anguissa, Decordova-Reid, Cavaleiro (Bryan 83), Lookman (Reed 69), Maja (Loftus-Cheek 77).
Subs not used: Fabri, Hector, Odoi, Mitrovic, Ream, Onomah.
