Van Persie, Mannone lift Arsenal to victory

Robin van Persie shrugged off the controversy surrounding his recent contribution to the diving debate to strike the match-winner as Arsenal fended off a spirited Fulham to claim a valuable 1-0 victory on Saturday.

Van Persie’s admission that he exaggerates contact inside the penalty area in a bid to win spot-kicks caused raised eyebrows before the Gunners’ trip to Craven Cottage.

But the Holland striker showed the other side of his game when produced an outstanding second half finish that prevented his side dropping more valuable points.

The result was harsh on Fulham who had the better chances and were denied largely because of an outstanding display by Arsenal goalkeeper Vito Mannone.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had spoken optimistically before the game about his side’s prospect of lifting the Premier League title, although that view had been countered by Danny Murphy’s claim that the current Arsenal side is a shadow of Wenger?s previous teams.

It was Fulham who were the hungrier side during the opening period with Murphy and Dickson Etuhu working hard to take control of central midfield and provide front two Andrew Johnson and Bobby Zamora with some quality service.

Arsenal’s back-four was getting stretched and, more galling for Wenger, they received little help from their team-mates further down the pitch who gave away possession much too easily, allowing Fulham to sustain early pressure.

Cesc Fabregas was uncharacteristically sloppy when he presented Clint Dempsey with the chance to shoot and the Arsenal skipper was relieved to see his Mannone smother the danger.

And the Italian produced a much more spectacular double save to keep his side on level terms in the 15th minute when he dived to tip away Johnson’s header before reacting quickly to block Dempsey’s follow-up shot from close range.

Arsenal were looking disjointed although Fabregas shot over from a good position in the 18th minute.

More wasteful though was Andrey Arshavin, back in the side after a groin injury, who managed to scoop the ball over the bar from just 12 yards out after being played in by his captain.

The better chances were coming at the other end where Mannone again did well to divert Zoltan Gera’s 36th minute cross-shot after the Hungarian had been played in by Johnson’s clever flick.

Arsenal had been second best throughout the first half and the pattern looked set to continue after the break when Zamora quickly fired in a 20-yard effort that flew narrowly wide of Mannone’s left hand post.

But while Wenger’s side may still be a work in progress, the one thing they do not lack is quality and the ability to change the course of a game in an instant – and that is exactly what happened when van Persie fired them ahead in the 52nd minute.

There was no sign of danger when Alex Song collected Paul Konchesky’s scuffed clearance inside his own half, but the midfielder moved the ball on to Fabregas who picked out Van Persie with a perfectly weighted chip.

Under pressure from Aaron Hughes, the Dutchman’s first touch had to be perfect. It was, and so was his finish that flew low across Fulham keeper Mark Schwarzer and inside the far post.

Fulham responded well and Johnson drew another excellent save out of Mannone when he met Zamora’s cross with a flicked header.

And the keeper’s efforts were matched by two excellent blocks from his defenders, the first by Bacary Sagna to deflect Dempsey’s shot against the post moments before William Gallas dived in to halt Zamora’s drive.