Ranieri says that Fulham’s mistakes allowed Arsenal to capitalise
There were no surprises at the Emirates on New Year’s day as Arsenal thrashed Fulham 4-1 to return to winning ways after that 5-1 debacle against Liverpool. Ryan Sessegnon missed a couple of clear-cut chances with the score tied at 0-0 and Aboubakar Kamara pulled one back for the visitors with 20 minutes remaining after Arsenal had established a two-goal advantage courtesy of strikes from Granit Xhaka and Alexandre Lacazette.
Fulham were in the game after Kamara’s strike but two late goals from Aaron Ramsey and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put an end to the Cottagers’ hopes of springing a surprise.
Fulham manager Claudio Ranieri pointed to the mistakes that his team made on the day and credited Arsenal for being the better team.
“It was a strange match. When you come to Arsenal you know the quality of the players is different, because we are in the relegation zone and they are in a position higher up [the table],” Ranieri said.
“But I was so pleased with my players. For the first 30 minutes, we played so well, pressed higher and created two great chances.
“The Arsenal fans were not happy with their team. But, when they created the first chance, we made a mistake because it came through the heart of the box and we were too wide.
“In the second half, again, we made mistakes and they scored. We re-opened the match at 2-1, and we created another two chances to draw level, but after we were tired and the skill of the Arsenal players is amazing.
“At the end, 4-1, you have to shut up and say well done to them.”
