Odegaard: Arsenal ´didn´t do enough´ in Fulham draw

Martin Odegaard conceded Arsenal “didn’t do enough” against Fulham, as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage.

The Gunners missed the chance to move within four points of Premier League leaders Liverpool, whose showdown with Everton was postponed on Saturday due to adverse weather conditions.

Mikel Arteta’s side controlled large periods of the contest, enjoying three-quarters of the possession, but had to settle for a share of the spoils after William Saliba cancelled out Raul Jimenez’s opener.

Bukayo Saka saw a late header ruled out for offside following a VAR review, but Odegaard acknowledged Arsenal required more to get the job done.

“We dominated most of the game,” he told Sky Sports. “The first half wasn’t great. We were a bit sloppy and lacked energy and power.

“The second half was a lot better. It’s frustrating not to win. We were close in the end with the goal.

“They’re a good team. They know how to defend. A solid block. We didn’t do enough today. We have to learn from that and go straight back in for the next one.

“We did a lot of good things. We have to do more and put the ball in the box more times, maybe, be a bit more direct and aggressive. We could have won it in the end.

“It’s a very long way to go. We’ve said hundreds of times, we have to keep going game by game. We have to focus on ourselves. We don’t care about the other teams [in the title race].”

Not the result we wanted. Not the result your support deserved.

Thank you for being with us all game, Goonerspic.twitter.com/X5pZkYaP17

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) December 8, 2024

Meanwhile, Marco Silva felt Fulham could have been better, but saluted the commitment and fighting spirit demonstrated by his side, who have now suffered just one defeat in their last seven games.

“The first thing is to praise the players for their commitment,” the Cottagers boss said. “On the ball, it wasn’t the game we like to play normally. The weather conditions weren’t the best. They are really strong in the pressure.

“In some moments, we should have kept the ball. Not many chances [for Arsenal] I think were good chances. We knew they’d start the second half strongly.

“I’d like to see us making better decisions because we had some good moments to punish them more, but they equalised.

“Second half, I felt the energy wasn’t there because, when you have so much time without the ball, you need fresh legs. Overall, the commitment and fighting spirit was really good.”