Fulham’s Premier League season hangs by a thread after results did not go their way and they succumbed to a 3-0 defeat against league leaders Arsenal.
Fulham fell to a 3-0 defeat against Arsenal on Saturday, which leaves their chances of reaching European football hanging by a thread.
Marco Silva’s men travelled to north London up against it, facing the best home team in the league, and having won just four away matches all season.
But they folded quickly and trailed after just nine minutes, before being 3-0 down by half-time after Viktor Gyokeres scored a brace and Bukayo Saka also scored.
Fulham had just one shot on target compared to Arsenal’s nine, 0.43 xG compared to the Gunners’ 2.99 and Bernd Leno made six saves compared to David Raya’s one.
It was genuinely men against boys out there, which, unfortunately, has been a bit of a recurring theme this season for the Cottagers when away from their home comforts of Craven Cottage, where they have thrived.
So what does the defeat mean for their goals this season? Is it the end of the road for European dreams, or is it just another dent in their aims?
Still only two points behind Brighton in eighth, which is the last European spot in the form of the Conference League, Fulham’s main concern now is their poor goal difference.
Worse than any other team with a chance at Europe apart from Sunderland, Fulham’s -5 goal difference leaves them needing to earn more points than their rivals; being level will not do.
And with results almost exclusively not going their way, as both Brentford and Bournemouth won and Everton picked up a draw against Manchester City, it looks like the Cottagers may need to pick up as many as seven points to finish inside the top eight.
Their remaining fixtures could allow them to do this, facing Bournemouth, Wolves and Newcastle.
The Cherries have been in incredible form, not losing a single Premier League match since January 3, with their seven losses fewer than every team in the league bar Arsenal and Manchester City.
But, meeting Fulham at Craven Cottage, where they have secured 10 of their 14 wins this season, makes it a very high stakes game indeed.
If Fulham don’t lose that, they are in with a chance, primarily due to facing the worst team in the league and a team who have been poor all season on their travels.
Ultimately, this defeat does not mean a huge amount for Fulham’s chances, the goal difference taking a hit is hardly ideal but this game was never the one Fulham were realistically targeting - that is this weekend, in what could be a monumental clash.