Premier League: Arsenal held to 2-2 draw by 10-man Fulham

Fulham was reduced to 10 men when Calvin Bassey received a second booking for a foul on Nketiah but it equalised in the 87th minute from a Joao Palhinha strike.

Fulham’s Joao Palhinha celebrates scoring the equaliser against Arsenal in the Premier League. | Photo Credit: Reuters

Joao Palhinha scored in the 87th minute to give 10-man Fulham a 2-2 draw at Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday.

Arsenal gifted Fulham the lead after just 57 seconds after a defensive howler but came back to lead 2-1 thanks to second-half goals from Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah. But the hosts couldn’t see out the win as Palhinha was left unmarked to slot home a corner for the late equaliser. That was despite Fulham going a man down when Calvin Bassey was shown a second yellow card in the 83rd.

Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus came on for his first appearance of the season after a knee injury but the Gunners couldn’t find a winner through nine minutes of injury time. It was Arsenal’s first dropped points of the campaign after opening with two wins, and the setback was largely self-inflicted.

Fulham took an early lead when Saka misplayed a back pass, sending Andreas Pereira through on goal with goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale stranded well outside his area. As Ramsdale backpedaled toward goal, Pereira calmly slotted the ball past him into the open net.

Arsenal missed a handful of decent chances to equalise in the first half, with Gabriel Martinelli drawing three saves from Bernd Leno alone. Kai Havertz had the best chance in the 11th minute when Saka met a cross at the far post and poked the ball across goal toward the German, who lunged in but only managed to poke it wide of the net.

Arsenal gifted Fulham another chance when Ben White let the ball drop to Raul Jimenez, who nearly scored with a spectacular overhead kick that sailed just wide of the post.

Jimenez returned to the Emirates for the first time since 2020 when a head collision while playing for Wolverhampton left him with a fractured skull that sidelined him for nearly a year.

Arsenal struggled to create quality chances in a second half played in the middle of a thunder storm that lit up the sky above Emirates Stadium, until substitute Fabio Vieira helped turn the game around. The Portuguese midfielder first earned a penalty when he was brought down in the area, and Saka calmly converted from the spot.

Nketiah then put Arsenal ahead minutes later by poking home a low cross from Vieira. Fulham complained that play went on despite Bassey staying down after a challenge on Saka in the area moments earlier and Fulham manager Marco Silva was booked for his protests.

Arsenal looked set to see out the win when Bassey was sent off, but more sloppy defending from a corner allowed Fulham to equalise.

Vieira nearly capped his impactful cameo by netting the winner deep into injury time, but Leno tipped his curling shot over the bar.Joao Palhinha scored in the 87th minute to give 10-man Fulham a 2-2 draw at Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday.

Arsenal gifted Fulham the lead after just 57 seconds after a defensive howler but came back to lead 2-1 thanks to second-half goals from Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah. But the hosts couldn’t see out the win as Palhinha was left unmarked to slot home a corner for the late equaliser. That was despite Fulham going a man down when Calvin Bassey was shown a second yellow card in the 83rd.

Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus came on for his first appearance of the season after a knee injury but the Gunners couldn’t find a winner through nine minutes of injury time. It was Arsenal’s first dropped points of the campaign after opening with two wins, and the setback was largely self-inflicted.

Fulham took an early lead when Saka misplayed a back pass, sending Andreas Pereira through on goal with goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale stranded well outside his area. As Ramsdale backpedaled toward goal, Pereira calmly slotted the ball past him into the open net.

Arsenal missed a handful of decent chances to equalise in the first half, with Gabriel Martinelli drawing three saves from Bernd Leno alone. Kai Havertz had the best chance in the 11th minute when Saka met a cross at the far post and poked the ball across goal toward the German, who lunged in but only managed to poke it wide of the net.

Arsenal gifted Fulham another chance when Ben White let the ball drop to Raul Jimenez, who nearly scored with a spectacular overhead kick that sailed just wide of the post.

Jimenez returned to the Emirates for the first time since 2020 when a head collision while playing for Wolverhampton left him with a fractured skull that sidelined him for nearly a year.

Arsenal struggled to create quality chances in a second half played in the middle of a thunder storm that lit up the sky above Emirates Stadium, until substitute Fabio Vieira helped turn the game around. The Portuguese midfielder first earned a penalty when he was brought down in the area, and Saka calmly converted from the spot.

Nketiah then put Arsenal ahead minutes later by poking home a low cross from Vieira. Fulham complained that play went on despite Bassey staying down after a challenge on Saka in the area moments earlier and Fulham manager Marco Silva was booked for his protests.

Arsenal looked set to see out the win when Bassey was sent off, but more sloppy defending from a corner allowed Fulham to equalise.

Vieira nearly capped his impactful cameo by netting the winner deep into injury time, but Leno tipped his curling shot over the bar.

Kalajdzic scores later winner as Wolves beat Everton

Sasa Kalajdzic of Wolverhampton Wanderers celebrates after scoring the winner against Everton. | Photo Credit: Lewis Storey/Getty Images

Sasa Kalajdzic scored three minutes from the end to hand Wolverhampton Wanderers its first win of the Premier League season with a 1-0 victory over Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday, piling more misery on its wasteful host.

Substitute Kalajdzic steered in a header from Pedro Neto’s cross to earn Wolves their first points of the season, having ridden their luck as Everton spurned numerous opportunities to score first.

Everton looked like the more dangerous team but is left waiting for its first point of the campaign in another demoralising defeat that was a carbon copy of its opening day loss to Fulham.

Both teams had goals disallowed earlier but Wolves finally found the breakthrough with their only shot on target in the game. Everton is now without a point or a goal in its first three games for the first time in its history.