Gabriel Magalhaes goes from zero to hero as Arsenal hit back to beat Fulham

Gabriel Magalhaes went from zero to hero as he atoned for gifting Fulham the lead by scoring the winning goal and extending Arsenal’s perfect start to the Premier League season.

The Brazil defender was badly caught out by Aleksandar Mitrovic as the Gunners came from behind to win 2-1 and retain their place at the top of the table.

Mitrovic’s goal, his 100th for Fulham and his fourth of the season – already more than he managed in the entirety of their relegation campaign two years ago – gave the visitors hope of continuing their own unbeaten start to the season.

Instead, Martin Odegaard equalised with a deflected strike before Gabriel made amends by bundling home the winner five minutes from the end.

Mikel Arteta had been forced into making changes to his line-up for the first time this season as the injured Thomas Partey and Oleksandar Zinchenko dropped out.

Granit Xhaka and Gabriel Martinelli had early chances without testing former Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno, the hosts building up a head of steam in the same fashion as last week’s win at Bournemouth.

Unlike their victory on the south coast, however, the Gunners could not set the tone with a quick opening goal as Fulham held them at bay.

Leno was not forced into meaningful action until after the half-hour, keeping out Bukayo Saka’s strike as the forward beat Fulham’s offside trap to go through one on one with his old team-mate.

That proved to be the only effort on target from either side in a forgettable first half, with Arsenal largely frustrated by Marco Silva’s men.

Gabriel Jesus should have done better with a chance as the hosts looked to kick on after the interval, hitting a tame effort at Leno after being found in the box by Xhaka.

But it would be Fulham who