Joao Palhinha scored a late equaliser on a pulsating afternoon at the Emirates Stadium.
Andreas Pereira opened the scoring in the first minute, after pouncing on a poor pass from Bukayo Saka to give the visitors the lead.
Arsenal responded in the second-half and a Saka penalty drew them level, before Eddie Nketiah put them in front moments later.
But Palhinha capped off an exceptional display, with a superb finish from a corner to earn a point for Fulham.
They were reduced to ten-men a few minutes earlier, when Calvin Bassey was sent off, after he pulled down Nketiah. That made Fulham's comeback all the more remarkable, but they thoroughly deserved a point.
-
Arsenal
Aaron Ramsdale - 5.5/10
The England goalkeeper was caught out in the opening minute, when sloppiness in the Arsenal defence led to Pereira giving the away side the lead. Ramsdale could have possibly sorted his feet out quicker and will be frustrated to have been beaten. Was solid enough for the rest of the game.
Thomas Partey - 5/10
The makeshift right-back does not look as comfortable as he does when he starts in his preferred midfield position. He was substituted early in the second-half. Arteta has a decision to make as to whether he wants to keep going with this tactical choice.
Ben White - 6/10
He was perhaps the best of the Arsenal defenders, who started the game. White was pretty faultless in possession and made a number of overlapping runs beyond Saka in the second-half.
William Saliba - 5.5/10
Not his best showing. Jimenez gave the Frenchman trouble throughout the 90 minutes and his passing out from the back was not of its usual standard.
Jakub Kiwior - 6/10
He replaced Takehiro Tomiyasu in the starting line-up after the Japanese defender's red card against Crystal Palace. Kiwior did what was expected of him.
Declan Rice - 6.5/10
Without the England international in the midfield, Arsenal may have even lost the match against Fulham. He snuffed out many Fulham attacks and his passing was very good again.
Kai Havertz - 5/10
Havertz really struggled and it seemed like the Emirates Stadium crowd was getting on his back in the second-half. He might benefit from coming off the bench against Manchester United because the German seemed to go into his shell after each mistake. He was replaced by Vieira midway through the second-half.
Martin Odegaard - 6/10
On a frustrating afternoon for Arsenal, Odegaard tried to be the player to drag his side to victory. He was denied on a couple of occasions by Leno and stepped aside to let Saka take the penalty for the Gunners.
Bukayo Saka - 6.5/10
He was a threat as he always is, but nothing seemed to go right for Saka in open-play. Fulham defended him well. His penalty was excellently taken.
Leandro Trossard - 5/10
Arsenal fans were calling for a Trossard start and an hour before kick-off, they got their wish. He was neat and tidy in possession but did not carry the same threat that Nketiah offered, later on in proceedings.
Gabriel Martinelli - 6/10
The Brazilian had his moments and was denied by a couple of routine Leno saves. He played a clever pass to Vieira, which helped win the spot-kick.
Substitutes
Eddie Nketiah - 7/10
Nketiah would have felt unlucky not to start the match, following his electric performance against Crystal Palace on Monday night. The 24-year-old produced a delicate finish to put Arsenal 2-1 up, but Arsenal were unable to hold on.
Fabio Vieira - 7.5/10
His best performance in an Arsenal shirt so far. Ever since, the Portuguese midfielder made the move to North London in 2022, he has struggled to impress. He won the penalty, he made the second goal for Nketiah and he almost won the game in stoppage-time with a fine strike, which was tipped over by Leno.
Oleksandr Zinchenko - 7/10
Zinchenko gave the ball away, which led to the corner and the equalising goal for Fulham. Despite that, Arsenal were much improved when he came into the pitch in the second-half and he has to start against Manchester United.
Jorginho - 6/10
A typical Jorginho display. He kept the game ticking over and retained possession well.
Gabriel Jesus - N/A
Not on the pitch long enough to make an impact.
-
Fulham
Bernd Leno - 7/10
A solid performance by the German goalkeeper. He conceded twice but there was nothing that he could really do to prevent either goal. His handling was excellent also.
Kenny Tete - 6/10
Played against a really tricky customer in Martinelli. Was almost faultless, up until the penalty that he gave away for a foul on Vieira. Tete found it tougher when Zinchenko came on, as he sometimes had a couple of extra runners to think about, but overall he was solid enough.
Issa Diop - 6.5/10
Apart from a ten-minute spell in the second-half, where Arsenal scored their two goals. The Fulham centre-halves played well. They made several excellent defensive headers, as the North-London side pushed for a winner.
Calvin Bassey - 5.5/10
Defensively, it was an almost impeccable performance on his first start for the club. Unfortunately though, a yellow card for time-wasting ,followed by a second yellow for a foul on Nketiah threatened to ruin all of Fulham's good work.
Antonee Robinson - 7/10
To keep Saka as quiet as he did is seriously impressive. There was not too many times, where the England winger got the better of the American.
Joao Palhinha - 8/10 (Player of the match)
Fulham have done extremely well to keep Palhinha over the Summer so far. His performance against Arsenal has probably added an extra 10 million to his price-tag. Broke up play brilliantly all game, and topped it off with an excellent equaliser.
Sasa Lukic - 7/10
The fact Arsenal did not dominate in the midfield area was testament to the work of Palhinha and Lukic. A very good display by the Serbian international.
Andreas Pereira - 7.5/10
A superb finish in the opening minute of the game. He still had a lot to do, when receiving Saka's misplaced back-pass but he calmly angled his effort in at the near-post to give Fulham the early lead.
Harry Wilson - 6/10
His best work was done defensively, as he had to double up with Tete against Martinelli for a lot of the proceedings.
Bobby De Cordova-Reid - 6/10
He never stopped running and worked tirelessly for the team. Not much of a threat in the final-third but there will be other matches, where he can make that kind of impact.
Raul Jimenez - 7/10
Held the ball up extremely well and almost scored one of the goals of the season. His acrobatic effort in the first-half sailed just over the bar. Maybe Fulham do not need Mitrovic after all.
Substitutes
Tom Cairney - 6/10
Helped add an extra body into the midfield to try and prevent Arsenal from dominating in that area of the pitch.
Harrison Reed - 6/10
Reed did a similar role to Cairney after coming on and helped ensure that Arsenal, did not go on to win the game after going 2-1 up.
Adama Traore - 6/10
His pace is always a threat. His surging run in the dying moments almost won the game for Fulham, but he was denied by Ramsdale.
Tosin Adarabioyo - N/A
Not on long enough to make a serious impact.
