Arsenal found their entertaining ways, but unfortunately for their fans not their winning one, as the Gunners drew with Fulham 3-3 in a see-saw battle that could have gone either way, with Mikel Arteta giving away a penalty and then crucially missing one in the final kick of the game.
Let's be clear, Arsenal needed nothing short of a win here at their own stadium against a side, who at the end of the day, are not expected to challenge for honors, even if they might have looked really good.
Olivier Giroud scored two goals for Arsenal, as did Dimitar Berbatov for Fulham, with Lukas Podolski and Alexander Kaciniklic scoring the other two for the Gunners and the Cottagers respectively.
All credit to Fulham, though, they were the better side in the first half, even out footballing the home side for large patches of the game. Arsenal, however, were the ones that took the lead with two goals coming from, basically, their only two opportunities of the first half.
First, it was an unlikely Arsenal goal -- a well-directed Theo Walcott corner saw Olivier Giroud lose Aaron Hughes before heading the ball past Mark Schwarzer in the 11th minute.
Then in the 23rd minute, Arsenal were 2-0 ahead, after a mistake from the Fulham defense allowed Arteta to coast inside the box, before pulling back a cross for Podolski to guide in. From that point on, if you are a side trying to convince everyone you are good enough to challenge for the English Premier League title, it should be a routine game.
However, the old failings of Arsenal proved to be their bane yet again, with Fulham finding two goals before the first half ended, to make it 2-2 at halftime. First it was a soft goal given away by Arsenal, as Berbatov was left all alone in the middle of the box to head the ball in off a Bryan Ruiz cross. The goalkeeper Vito Mannone should have come out and challenged or/and the defense should have been alert enough to not give someone of Berbatov's caliber so much space, with the former Manchester Unuted forward not even needing to put in a jump for the goal.
The Bulgarian international then turned provider in the 40th minute, playing a perfect cross for Kaciniklic to head in from 14 yards out.
Arsenal needed to come out the better side in the second half, and they did, with Giroud and Walcott, particularly, looking menacing. But, such is Arsenal's plight right now, that they will not get the break perhaps that they need, and some of the other "big" teams seem to get time and again. Steve Sidwell, who had already picked up a yellow card, made a cynical foul just outside the Fulham penalty area. Referee Phil Dowd immediately went into his pocket, but seemed to realize midway the Fulham midfielder had been already booked, therefore changing his mind and deciding to book Aaron Ramsey instead, for an earlier foul on Ruiz.
Dowd will no doubt deny he was ever planning to book Sidwell, but that argument will be hard to justify given the visuals. The game continued on, and Fulham were the ones to take the lead in the 67th minute.
Arteta, of all people, took a poor touch near his own penalty area, allowing Ruiz to take advantage, with the Arsenal midfielder, looking to make amends for the mistake, losing his head and tugging at Ruiz, leaving Dowd no choice but to point at the penalty spot.
Berbatov stepped up, and as is the class of the man, coolly slotted it into the back of the net - leaving many to wonder what might have been if Arsenal had actually bought the talented Bulgarian in the summer.
Arsenal, however, to their credit, got back into the game two minutes later. Santi Cazorla played Giroud through on goal, with the French striker only managing to hit the post. The rebound fell to Walcott, who took his time before finding Giroud perfectly to head the ball in.
Arsenal had 20 minutes to find the equalizer, with Giroud coming the closest after a brilliant turn and shot from range, was well saved by Mark Schwarzer.
It looked like it was going to end 3-3, when Andrey Arshavin, after Ruiz had carelessly given the ball away, ran at pace down the left, before seeing his cross strike the arm of Sascha Riether. Dowd pointed to the penalty spot -- Arsenal's first penalty in 18 months -- even though the decision seemed harsh, with the fullback hardly having an opportunity to get his arm behind his back.
Arteta stepped up to take the spotkick, which was to be the last kick of the game, with Schwarzer making a smart save, diving down to his left to earn his side a deserved point.
Arsene Wenger will be disappointed, and will also be wondering where his Arsenal side, so obviously short on confidence, are headed as the Gunners' season looks in serious danger of unravelling into cataclysmic proportions.
Other results: Everton 2-1 Sunderland; Reading 0-0 Norwich; Southampton 1-1 Swansea; Stoke 1-0 QPR; Wigan 1-2 West Brom.
