Joao Palhinha earns Fulham shock late point at Arsenal

Joao Palhinha struck in the 87th minute to earn a shock 2-2 draw for Fulham at Arsenal.

The hosts looked to have completed a stunning turnaround when substitute Eddie Nketiah fired past Bernd Leno to give them the lead 18 minutes from time, moments after Bukayo Saka’s penalty had made it 1-1 and relieved the tension in north London.

Saka gifted the opening goal to Andreas Pereira after 57 seconds as Arsenal’s habit of letting in early goals at home returned to haunt them.

Calvin Bassey saw red for Fulham late on for fouling Nketiah, but Palhinha left home fans stunned for a second time when he struck from a corner as Arsenal’s winning start in the Premier League came to an end.

Some were yet to take their seats inside the Emirates when Pereira pounced on a reckless blind ball from Saka to give Fulham the lead.

There seemed to be no danger when Declan Rice laid the ball to his England team-mate wide on the halfway line, but in a startling lapse of concentration Saka played a backwards pass into the path of the onrushing Pereira, who with under a minute on the clock dinked it beyond Aaron Ramsdale to stun the hosts.

It was the third time in 2023 that Arsenal had conceded in the first minute of a home game and, as though familiar with the routine, they responded with appropriate urgency.

First, Kai Havertz spurned a glorious chance to level with a close-range header from Saka’s clever back-post flick, then Gabriel Martinelli danced inside Kenny Tete to make room for a low drive that was gathered by Leno.

Martinelli looked Arsenal’s best hope of a quick fix to their predicament. Raul Jimenez was next to deny the Brazilian when he flew into a point-blank interception as the Brazilian shaped to shoot from six yards.

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