Pundit heaps praise on ‘outstanding’ Arsenal star who ‘had a real impact’ on Fulham result

Arsenal managed to scrape a point from their latest Premier League outing on Saturday after being held by Fulham in a 2-2 draw at the Emirates. The visitors took the lead after just a minute of play and it wasn’t until deep into the second half that the Gunners managed to hit back.

In the 70th and 72nd minute, Arsenal had equalised and taken the lead following a Bukayo Saka penalty and a goal from Eddie Nketiah. But despite Calvin Bassey being sent off, Fulham managed to pop up with a last gasp goal to even the score and share the spoils.

Mikel Arteta and his side will be disappointed with their result, having worked hard to get back into the game. However, Darren Bent had some positives to discuss and heaped the praise on Fábio Vieira, who made his first appearance of the season this afternoon.

The midfielder was an unused substitute against both Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace, but he came on for the last half an hour against Fulham and helped change the narrative of the match after winning the penalty and providing a further assist.

Speaking on Sky Sports after the match, Bent said: “It’s a little bit unfortunate for Fulham because Calvin Bassey goes down in the box with a collision with Bukayo Saka. He stays down but Arsenal just play on — they forget that he’s there. The ball goes wide to Fabio Vieira, who’s had a real impact on this game. He whips it across and Eddie Nketiah does what he does best.

“Arsenal managed to get a foothold in the game when Vieira came on. I thought he was outstanding when he came on, got the penalty.”

The Gunners have now banked seven points from a possible nine in the Premier League this season. Their next challenge will be a mouthwatering clash against Manchester United, who came back from being 2-0 down against Forest to win 3-2 in a very inspired performance.