With the splendour of Craven Cottage, Fulham have always had a keen sense of history and last night the present generation turned back time, deservedly and decisively beating Arsenal for the first time in 40 years.
For all the home team’s magnificent efforts, however, the most pressing issue is what a third successive Premiership away defeat means for the future of Arsenal, whose interest in the title race is surely over.
With the possible exception of Jens Lehmann, no one should escape blame for a shambolic performance by the visiting team, including Arsène Wenger, whose bizarre team selection set the tone for much of what followed.
His faith in youngsters such as Justin Hoyte and Alexandre Song is misplaced, but he appeared to be in denial, blaming an offside decision when Thierry Henry had the ball in the net in the second half for the loss.
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“We didn’t expect the defeat,” Wenger said. “It was played at a high pace and we gave it everything, so I’m not disappointed with the way we played. It’s our third away defeat [in succession], I cannot deny that, but as with West Ham and Bolton we could’ve had some points.
“The offside was decisive and I think the coincidence of the decisions at the moment is very peculiar. As with the penalty [we did not get] at West Ham, we have to live with it. We’re playing too many games and this fixture was a farce.”
Having told his players that they were facing their moment of truth, Wenger showed no wish to speak honestly. The Frenchman was as culpable as his players, making six changes from the team beaten by Bolton, with Francesc Fàbregas on the bench and Emmanuel Eboué and Gaël Clichy sitting out entirely, leaving three key positions filled by novices.
Hoyte looked like the next Gus Caesar at right back, Flamini appeared to be pining for a role in midfield on the left and Song should have been made to sing for his post-match supper after a horrendous display. As the watching Paul Merson put it with a wonderful mixture of metaphors, the Cameroon midfield player looked “like a fish up a tree”.
With so many changes, a slow start was inevitable and Fulham took full advantage, haring out of the traps like greyhounds. Luis Boa Morte in particular revelled in the space he was given by Hoyte, whose reckless challenge enabled the Fulham winger to carry the ball the length of the pitch to create the opening goal in the sixth minute. Brian McBride was ushered away at the cost of a corner but the American striker had the last word, rising above Kolo Touré to give his team the lead.
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With even Gilberto Silva giving away the ball, Arsenal seemed utterly shellshocked and were soon farther behind. After beating Song twice in the penalty area, Boa Morte found Tomasz Radzinski at the far post, with the Canada striker crashing into the advertising hoardings after sending the ball high into the net.
Boa Morte missed a great chance to kill the game after ghosting away from Hoyte in the 34th minute and what looked like a costly error became potentially even more expensive two minutes later, when Robin van Persie pulled a goal back with a beautifully curled free kick into the top right-hand corner.
Wenger would have been justified in hauling off most of his team at half-time but restricted himself to one change, sending on Fábregas for Song, whose first Premiership start of the season will surely be his last. Fàbregas brought a sense of calm to the chaos, but it did not extend to his team-mates as Fulham continued to dominate. After Boa Morte had got in front of Philippe Senderos in the 64th minute, the Switzerland defender brought him down, leaving Howard Webb, the referee, no option but to give him his second yellow card, then a red. Theo Walcott hit a post after being introduced from the bench, but Fulham finished as they had started, with Boa Morte and Claus Jensen going close.
It was left to Chris Coleman to provide a more accurate assessment of the evening, with the Fulham manager hailing his team’s performance as the best of his 3½-year reign.
“I enjoyed it from start to finish and it’s the best performance since I’ve been here,” he said. “We didn’t sit back in the second half and could’ve scored more goals. That’s better than our Manchester United away performance and Chelsea at home when we beat them last year.
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“We’ve beaten United, Liverpool and Chelsea, but never got near Arsenal. When we beat United a few years ago they were going through a transitional period and the same thing is happening with Arsenal.”
With Wenger’s team 16 points behind United at the top, the Arsenal manager has much to ponder.
Fulham (4-5-1): A Niemi — M Volz, Z Knight, P Christanval, L Rosenior — T Radzinski (sub: W Routledge, 46min), M Brown, P Bouba Diop, C Jensen, L Boa Morte — B McBride (sub: H Helguson, 76). Substitutes not used: J Lastivka, C John, G Zakuani. Booked: Brown, Rosenior, Boa Morte, Helguson.
Arsenal (4-4-2): J Lehmann — J Hoyte, K Touré, P Senderos, M Flamini — A Hleb (sub: J Djourou, 65), A Song (sub: F Fàbregas, 46), Gilberto Silva, T Rosicky (sub: T Walcott, 61) — T Henry, R van Persie. Substitutes not used: M Almunia, E Adebayor. Booked: Senderos, Song, Rosicky, Van Persie, Flamini. Sent off: Senderos.
Referee: H Webb.