Arsenal welcomed Fulham to the Emirates Stadium today looking to get their noses in front of Tottenham Hoitspur before next weekend's North London derby.
The Cottagers - level on points with Arsene Wenger's men - fought back from two goals down to level the match before half-time.
It looked as if the game would end 3-3 until referee Phil Dowd gave Arsenal a fortuitous penalty deep into injury time.
However, Mark Schwarzer was the hero for the visitors, saving well down low to his left.
Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look to see if the result was fair.
Match statistics:
Arsenal:
Shots 14
On target 6
Possession 56%
Corners 8
Fouls 11
Fulham:
Shots 11
On target 5
Possession 44%
Corners 6
Fouls 12
Was the result fair?
Yes. Fulham would have been very hard done by had Mikel Arteta converted his spot kick at the death. Especially as the penalty may have been a harsh one. The visitors gave a good account of themselves and a point was thoroughly deserved.
Arsenal's performance
7/10. The Gunners weren't that bad today, they just seem to be lacking a bit of confidence. It's hard to pin-point exactly what went wrong for them, but they have definite problems creating from midfield. Santi Cazorla didn't make his usual impact today, while Arteta also struggled to create anything. Lukas Podolski is generally on the business end of an attacking move and rarely gets involved in the link-up play. He was somewhat starved of service today and was a bit lost. Olivier Giroud scored two goals and had a really good game. With three goals in a week, Gooners will be pleased at the way he seems to be settling in now.
Fulham's performance
7/10. The Cottagers knocked the ball around really well today, and they have a technically gifted attacking pair in Bryan Ruiz and Dimitar Berbatov. They had plenty of possession in the first 10 minutes but failed to do anything with it. That all changed when Alexander Kacaniklic came on for the injured Kieron Richardson. The Swede had a very good game, while also getting himself on the scoresheet. Ashkan Dejagah did his first-team chances no harm at all, and caused Arsenal a few problems down the right-hand side.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Mark Schwarzer: It has to be the Australian keeper for his last-minute penalty save. Had the penalty not been given, then Bryan Ruiz would have taken the acclaim.
Referee performance
There were two major talking points in the game. Firstly, Phil Dowd was about to show Steve Sidwell what would have been his second yellow card, but seemed to hesitate when he realised that would mean an early bath for the midfielder. He then issued the booking to Aaron Ramsey having already made it clear that he was reaching to his pocket. It was all a bit puzzling. The challenge itself was probably not a booking, but there is no doubt that he would have brandished the card if Sidwell hadn't already been booked.
Secondly, the last-minute penalty decision. Dowd pointed to the spot when he adjudged Sascha Riether to have handled inside the area. There's no doubt that the ball hit his arm, but they were by his sides and there was nothing that he could have done. It was a harsh one, but justice was done in the end.
What next?
Arsenal: The North London derby is next up for the Gunners, as Tottenham Hotspur come to the Emirates Stadium.
Fulham: Martin Jol's men welcome Sunderland to Craven Cottage next Sunday.
Michael Penkman
