'Shameless' Mikel Arteta blasted for 12-word statement after Arsenal draw at Fulham

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has been slammed after claiming ‘no other team’ has contained Fulham like his side did in their draw on Sunday. The Gunners travelled to Craven Cottage looking to gain ground on title-challenging rivals Liverpool – whose weekend fixture, a Merseyside derby against Everton, was called off due to adverse weather conditions.

However, they would find themselves 1-0 down just after the 10-minute mark as Raul Jimenez’s sweeping strike opened the scoring. Another set-piece routine then inevitably paid off on 52 minutes, with William Saliba levelling things at 1-1. Despite Bukayo Saka looking like he’d snatched all three points with a last-gasp header, VAR ruled out the goal, and the spoils were shared.

After the match, Arteta, whose side limited the hosts to just two shots, claimed that no other team had managed to restrict Fulham at home as they had just done – much to the annoyance of fans online.

“I haven’t seen a team do what we’ve done here today against them [Fulham],” Arteta stated. “That’s the reality, but you want that and the three points, and that’s what was missing today. We’re going to have to work in that direction.”

Yet, fans were quick to point out that strugglers Wolves visited Craven Cottage last month, limiting them to just three shots on target and coming away 4-1 victors.

“Wolves beat Fulham 4-1 at this stadium 2 weeks ago, he [Arteta] is so shameless,” wrote one fan on X, with another harshly admitting: “That extra step to get Arsenal over the line for the league title is beyond Arteta’s capability.”

However, another rebuked: “If you watched the games, you’d know what he means. The Wolves game was very even; the Arsenal game was total game control. And as he said, Arsenal just needs to be better at taking chances.”

Aside from this admission, Arteta was, understandably, disappointed to drop two points on the road. They sit six points behind league leaders Liverpool, who now have a game in hand, and two behind second-placed Chelsea, who continue to impress after a 4-3 away win at Tottenham on Sunday.

“Gutted that we didn’t win it,” Arteta told reporters after the draw. “We fully deserved to win it. That’s the quality of the opposition, so you cannot cry about it.

“We generated all the chances, but it’s so difficult to attack. We did almost everything that we had to do to win it … For millimetres, we could have been here with a really dominant win.

“It’s never enough if you don’t score three, four or five. If they [rival teams] play 11 direct balls, I want to win 11. We want to win 100 per cent,” he added. “Sometimes you have to praise the opposition.”