Arsenal’s ability in dead-ball situations was again in the spotlight after the 1-1 draw against Fulham, especially after their impressive 2-0 win over Manchester United in the previous match.
Against Man United, goals from Jurrien Timber and William Saliba in the match further emphasized Arsenal’s prowess in taking advantage of opportunities from corner kicks.
This even sparked a joking comparison with Stoke City during the Tony Pulis era, who were known to be good at taking advantage of dead-ball situations when they were still playing in the Premier League. Responding to this, Mikel Arteta said the comparison was a big compliment.
Saliba’s goal against Fulham was real proof of Arsenal’s dead-ball strategy, which has produced 23 goals from corner kicks since the start of last season – more than any other team in Europe’s top leagues.
Although Arsenal had almost 40 minutes to find a winner after equalizing, they rarely threatened Fulham’s goal from open play. However, Arteta disagreed that his team was too dependent on set-pieces.
“We should have scored in other ways as well because we had some big chances,” Arteta told BBC Sport.
The data shows that of Arsenal’s 27 non-penalty goals in the Premier League this season, nine of them or around 33.33% have come from dead ball situations.
This percentage is lower than Nottingham Forest (35.3%), Crystal Palace (38.5%) and Everton (57.1%), who are more dependent on set-pieces to score goals.
When asked if Arsenal were creating enough chances from open play, Arteta replied, “It’s never enough if you don’t score three, four or five goals.”
The draw against Fulham was a small blow for Arsenal, especially after Chelsea’s dramatic 4-3 win over Tottenham.
The victory moved Chelsea up to second place, displacing Arsenal, and only four points behind leaders Liverpool.
“We have very good momentum, the team is playing well and winning a lot of games. We want to continue that, and our performance today 100% supports that,” said Arteta.
“I am very disappointed that we didn’t win,” Arteta said.
“We deserved to win. We did almost everything to win this game. But because it was such a close game, we have to be happy with the result.”
