Fulham - 0 Arsenal - 1 Arsenal ended their run of four defeats yesterday without seriously suggesting they were about to pick up the golden thread of success that had preceded it.
Still, a narrow victory over Fulham in a match which was a mix of the magical and the mundane has moved Arsene Wenger's team back to within four points of Liverpool.
A further failure to win and they would have started to lose sight of Gerard Houllier's side. As Wenger said: "We had to get three points today and the character and resilience of our performance showed that the hunger is still there."
Certainly Arsenal did not hunger in vain. One large slice of luck, topped with icing sugar and marzipan, produced their winning goal, and other crumbs of good fortune also went their way. That said, it took some excellent goalkeeping by Edwin van der Sar to deny them a more substantial win.
The moment the game was won and lost was pure French farce. After half an hour Arsenal forced a corner on the left, taken as usual by Thierry Henry. Throughout the match the regularity with which Henry mis-hit corners, passes and shots suggested he was wearing his boots on the wrong feet. This corner was probably his worst, a scuffed, low kick which should have been a routine matter for Steve Marlet when the Fulham striker met it a few yards from the near post.
Instead of making the clearance, however, Marlet sliced it back into the net between Steve Finnan, stationed by the post, and Van der Sar, both of whom stood aghast.
Perhaps this was the sign from the gods that Arsenal needed, although their defence more than once tempted providence before victory was secured.
Arsenal are still not right. Their will to succeed remains beyond doubt, but they have yet to regain the more practical virtues of sound organisation at the back and a consistent finishing touch up front.
The centre of their defence still looks vulnerable, especially against the sort of speed and mobility Luis Boa Morte and Marlet achieved for Fulham. Patrick Vieira's suspension, moreover, has deprived Arsenal of their most effective midfield shield.
Though Fulham are not overpassing the ball to the extent of last season, the verve of their attacking build-up is still not being matched by a similar incisiveness near goal. And had Finnan not missed the target in the opening minute, after making a perfect late run to meet Steed Malbranque's long centre, Arsenal would surely have found themselves chasing the game instead of gradually gaining a grip.
In addition, Fulham had a convincing argument for one penalty as well as prima facie cases for two more. Each incident involved challenges by Sol Campbell on Boa Morte, the first proving Arsenal's luckiest escape after the defender had barged the striker to the ground in the eighth minute.
The moment when Boa Morte went down on the quarter-hour was more debatable, but early in the second half Campbell seemed to clip the Portuguese player's ankle near the left-hand byline.
Fulham must have begun to wonder whether the referee, Jeff Winter, would require three signed affidavits from independent witnesses before he was convinced a penalty needed to be given.
Once Arsenal had come within range of goal they looked more like their familiar selves. Amid the general blur of attack and counterattack the ability of Dennis Bergkamp still to find time and space to set up chances with measured passes set the Dutchman apart.
Sylvain Wiltord is no Bergkamp but his capacity to spin off opponents and create openings in the same movement, allied to some telling diagonal runs from Freddie Ljungberg, might have spared Arsenal a less anxious last hour had it not been for a combination of Van der Sar and poor finishing.
In the sixth minute Ljungberg, set up by Wiltord, lifted his shot over the bar. In the 13th Bergkamp sent Henry through only for Van der Sar to deflect the Frenchman's shot wide. After 22 minutes Bergkamp was again the provider and this time Ljungberg was on target but once more the Fulham goalkeeper was equal to the moment.
Seven minutes after Marlet's howler Wiltord turned deftly away from a defender to chip a delightful ball into Ljungberg's path, only for Van der Sar to block the Swede's close-range shot. These moments kept Fulham in the match.
David Seaman showed there was nothing wrong with his reflexes as he tipped a rising drive from Sylvain Legwinski over the bar and was rewarded with his first clean sheet in six games.
Arsenal need to restock their linen cupboard with a few more.
FULHAM: Van der Sar, Finnan, Ouaddou, Melville, Brevett, Legwinski, Malbranque (Hayles 54), Goma, Boa Morte, Marlet, Djetou (Inamoto 54). Subs Not Used: Taylor, Clark, Knight. Booked: Djetou.
ARSENAL: Seaman, Lauren (Luzhny 65), Campbell, Cygan, Cole, Wiltord (Toure 83), Silva, Edu, Ljungberg, Henry, Bergkamp (Kanu 72). Subs Not Used: Pires, Shaaban. Booked: Cygan, Edu. Goal: Marlet 31 og.
Referee: J Winter (Cleveland).
