Fulham 2 Arsenal 1
Bobby Zamora’s dramatic winner in stoppage time stunned Arsenal, who paid the price for defender Johan Djourou’s 80th-minute sending off.
With the teams around them all picking up points of late, Fulham looked set to remain just five points above the bottom three when Laurent Koscielny steered home a first-half header.
But the Whites dominated the second half, and after Djourou’s red card the game opened up enough for Steve Sidwell to head an equaliser.
And then Zamora hit the net with a 93rd-minute volley – his first goal in 12 matches – that subjected Arsene Wenger’s men to a fifth away defeat of the season.
Arsenal began with the same gusto they showed against QPR on Saturday and Gervinho had the Gunners’ first effort on goal after only 54 seconds.
His shot over the bar was wasteful, as were two other opportunities for the Ivorian before Koscielny broke the deadlock.
But Arsenal should perhaps have had a penalty when he worked his way into the box again and was tripped by Philippe Senderos, who got nothing of the ball.
Referee Lee Probert ignored the protests and Arsenal soon cared less about the incident when Aaron Ramsey’s hanging cross was headed into the far corner by an unmarked Koscielny.
A rapid double save from David Stockdale then prevented the away side going two-up inside half-an-hour.
He first denied Ramsey and then pushed away John Arne Riise’s attempted clearance that deflected off the knee of Gervinho.
Fulham were not without their own opportunities though, with Bryan Ruiz firing wide.
The Costa Rican also had the first chance of the second half, forcing Wojciech Szczęsny into a save as Fulham began to enjoy more of the ball.
And the red card for Djourou for a second bookable offence after he pulled down Zamora, who was clear on goal, gave Fulham more room to manoeuvre.
Sidwell bundled in the equaliser six minutes from time when Szczęsny was caught out trying to claim a corner but instead tipped the ball to Senderos, who headed back towards goal and the former Chelsea man nodded home.
And then Zamora capitalised on a failed clearance from Sebastien Squillaci by volleying into the net just seconds before the final whistle.
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This post was last modified on 02/01/2012
