Match Report Fulham 0-1 Arsenal

Arsenal moved above Chelsea into third in the table, but were unconvincing in a 1-0 win over 10-man Fulham.
Fulham were reduced to 10 men after just 13 minutes, Steve Sidwell seeing red for a late challenge on Mikel Arteta. The home side had started sloppily but improved after the sending-off, Dimitar Berbatov forcing Wojciech Szczesny into a smart save when he really should have scored. Arsenal were keeping possession well but were finding it difficult to break down the 10 men of Fulham. Olivier Giroud came closest, seeing his effort deflect off the post with Mark Schwarzer beaten. The home side were growing in confidence and Urby Emanuelson almost made Nacho Monreal pay after giving away possession, but his effort was pushed around the post by Szczesny. The Gunners made the breakthrough two minutes before the break. Walcott's free-kick was headed across goal by Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker headed home from a yard out. The second half continues in the same vein as the first as Arsenal struggled to break the stubborn Fulham defence down. The Cottagers fought their way back into the game and forced a number of corners and free-kicks, but couldn't capitalise on their set-pieces. The teams were level in terms of players on the pitch late on, when Giroud was sent off for a sliding tackle on Stanislav Manolev. Fulham threw everything at Arsenal's goal, but the Gunners held on and move up to third in the league despite an under-par display.