Arteta rues slip as Fulham puncture title momentum

The good news is that it was better for Arsenal than last season. The bad news is that their run of successive wins was ended at four and they spurned an opportunity to apply pressure to the leaders Liverpool.

- Jonathan Wilson

And worse, they were denied an 89th-minute winner by a tight - but correct - VAR offside call.

"Emotionally that was tough," Mikel Arteta said of the decision. He maintained his recent policy, though, of stressing the need for Arsenal to improve and take responsibility rather than looking for excuses, even if this was the eighth different back four he has named this season.

"You cannot cry about it," Arteta said. "It's the reality. We absolutely deserved to win the match from the beginning to the end. We did almost everything we had to do to win it. We have to look at those margins and see what we can do so the opponent has zero chance."

Liverpool may feel that, with six players out injured and Everton having put four past Wolves on Wednesday, the postponement of the Merseyside derby on Saturday provided a welcome break before the rigours of the festive programme. But it also gave Arsenal the opportunity to cut the gap to four points which, even having played a game more, does not seem anywhere near as daunting as seven. As it is, the gap is six points and Liverpool have a game in hand. Everything at the moment is coming up Arne Slot.