Mikel Arteta: 'Fulham defeat was our worst game of the season'

A downcast Mikel Arteta labelled Arsenal's 2-1 Premier League defeat to London rivals Fulham at Craven Cottage his side's «worst game of the season».

Starting the day two points adrift of Liverpool and Aston Villa in the rankings, the Gunners would have ended a second successive calendar year at the top of the table had they got the better of Marco Silva's men.

Arteta's men began their quest for three points on the right foot, as with just five minutes gone, Bernd Leno parried Gabriel Martinelli's strike into the path of Bukayo Saka, who quickly readjusted his feet to prod the ball home.

However, the Gunners' attacking verve eluded them after Saka's opportunistic opener, and a fired-up Fulham were deservedly level before the break, as Raul Jimenez finished from Tom Cairney's sublime low cross.

The half-time interval and raft of alterations did not pay dividends for the shot-shy Gunners, who switched to a 3-5-2 setup for the majority of the second period in a bid to rediscover their offensive bite.

Such an alteration did not have the desired effect, though, and the Cottagers nicked their winner from a set-piece, as Arsenal failed to clear their lines from a corner and could only watch Bobby Decordova-Reid smash the ball into the roof of the net from close range.

Arsenal's efforts to salvage a point or three from the London derby were incredibly futile, as the Gunners did not have a single shot on target in the second half, where their best opening saw Saka balloon a volley high into the air from a promising position.

An off-colour Arsenal end 2023 with just four points to show from their last 15 on offer in the top flight, also being beaten by Aston Villa and West Ham United in that sequence, and they occupy fourth place