Arsenal were left frustrated by an impressive Fulham side, who earned themselves a valuable Premier League point with a 2-2 draw at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
The Gunners got off to a disastrous start when Andreas Pereira put the visitors 1-0 up in the 1st minute, after an awful touch by Bukayo Saka put the Brazilian midfielder straight through on goal.
That goal was the third occasion this calendar year that Arsenal have conceded inside the opening 60 seconds at the Emirates Stadium.
Despite not being able to find their usual rhythm for large parts of the game, Arsenal were given a way back into the match when Fabio Vieira was brought down inside the box by Kenny Tete, with Saka converting the resulting penalty.
Just two minutes later and Mikel Arteta's side were in front, with Vieira the orchestrator again, setting up Eddie Nketiah, who coolly slotted the ball past former Arsenal shot stopper Bernd Leno with a lovely first time finish.
Fulham were undeterred after they were reduced down to 10-men when Calvin Bassey was shown a second yellow card on his debut, and forced a late equaliser in the 87th minute when midfielder Joao Palhinha scored with a clever finish from a Cottagers corner.
The result meant that Arsenal's perfect start to the new Premier League season was over, with Fulham the happier of the two sides at the full time whistle.
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Fearless Fulham
Marco Silva's men will be delighted to come away from the Emirates Stadium with a point, and arguably deserved to leave with all three.
The Cottagers certainly had the chances to do so, and could been two or three goals to the good at half time.
The midfield three of Sasa Lukic, Palhinha and Pereria really stood out for Fulham, and despite not having large amounts of the ball, remained extremely effective throughout the match.
When Fulham went 2-1 down and Bassey was given his marching orders, it seemed as though the writing was on the wall, however the visitors had other ideas.
Fulham dug deep and were able to survive an Arsenal onslaught before Palhinha sent the away end into bedlam with a great finish from inside the box, after being found from a corner ball.
Despite a total of nine minutes being added onto the second half, the Cottagers remained resilient and defended well to see out an impressive point.
Fulham never gave up though, and nearly nicked all three points when Adama Traore was unleashed on the counter attack in the dying embers of the match, however Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale was able to deny the winger with a good save.
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Experimental Mikel Arteta
So far this season it seems as though Arsenal manager Arteta has been experimenting with his tactics.
In the opening three games Thomas Partey, traditionally a defensive midfielder, has been played at right back by the Spaniard.
Whilst Oleksandr Zinchenko has struggled for fitness, Arteta appears to be testing Partey out in a similar role.
Arsenal's backline has been subject to much change, with Arteta dropping Gabriel Magalhaes from the starting lineup, despite the Brazilian defender having been one of the Gunners top performers last season.
After finding themselves 1-0 down against Fulham, Arsenal reverted back to their system which worked so well for them last year, by bringing Zinchenko and Vieira on the 56th minute.
The Gunners looked much more comfortable after those changes, and had they played with that system from the start of the game, could they have taken all three points?
Whilst Arteta is doing a good thing in trying to make his side more tactically versatile and harder to beat, it remains unknown how long the 41-year-old will persist with his experimental tactics.
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Mitrovic Who?
Many people thought that Fulham would massively struggle when their star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic left the club in a record deal to Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal.
The Serbian forward had been rumoured to leave West London from as early as July, so Fulham have had plenty of time to plan without their main man.
Mitrovic scored 14 goals for the Cottagers in the Premier League last season, so it was a priority to find someone to replace those goals for manager Silva.
So far Fulham have brought in Raúl Jiménez from Wolverhampton Wanderers, as well as winger Traore on a free transfer.
Whilst the former Wolves duo provide significant attacking options for Fulham, the West London side still have plenty of the fee they received for Mitrovic to reinvest in their squad.
It appears Silva is looking to spend the money on other areas of the pitch though, with Fulham linked to the likes of Everton winger Demari Gray and Southampton fullback Kyle Walker-Peters.
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Uncertainty Up Top For Arsenal
With Gabriel Jesus returning to the Arsenal squad after undergoing knee surgery, it could spell the end of uncertainty at the head of the Gunners attack.
Nketiah has stepped up once again and scored twice for Arsenal since the Brazilian's absence, however he is clearly yet to convince Arteta after he was dropped for Leandro Trossard against Fulham.
Arteta seems to be comfortable with his attacking options though, as the Spaniard is happy to allow Folarin Balogun to leave the club.
The American striker scored 21 Ligue 1 goal last season whilst on loan at Stade Reims, and is set to join fellow French outfit AS Monaco.
Many Arsenal fans wanted to see Balogun given a chance in North London this season, however it appears that the 22-year-old has been unable to impress Arteta in pre-season.
Kai Havertz is another player who can do a job up front, and although he has been played in midfield so far this season, it wouldn't be a huge shock if the German featured as a no.9 for Arsenal at some point.
The 24-year-old joined the Gunners from fellow London side Chelsea, where he mainly played as a striker, for a reported fee in the region of £65million.
Now that Jesus has returned to full fitness, Arsenal will hope that their talisman can remain fit for the rest of their Premier League campaign, and score some goals along the way.
If the 26-year-old does pick up another injury it could mean that Arsenal will have to reassess the spearhead of their attack once again.
