Arsenal left frustrated by Van der Sar variety pack

Arsenal 0 Fulham

Anyone seeking an instant measure of the strength of French football after England's Euro 2004 pairing with France might have done worse than head for Highbury yesterday. The respective line-ups contained 11 Frenchmen, as against just seven Englishmen, though it was a Dutchman who did most to influence the unexpected outcome.

Edwin van der Sar, Fulham's 6ft 7in Dutch keeper, was brave, decisive, agile and occasionally lucky as Arsenal peppered his goal. There are lies, damned lies and match statistics, but for once the bare facts reflected the contest. Arsène Wenger's side had 22 scoring attempts, compared to six by Fulham, and Van der Sar's sprawling, twisting, flying frame ensured that none of the 14 home efforts on target found the net.

By stopping Arsenal from scoring at home in the League for the first time since April 2001, and helping the west London club gain their first point against the Gunners since 1965, Van der Sar earned a novel tribute from Chris Coleman. The Fulham manager hailed his display as "worldy", which must be South Walian for "world-class".

Wenger argued that while the former Ajax and Juventus custodian had made no mistakes, nor had he actually needed to make any "exceptional" saves. Whichever view you favoured, Van der Sar's defiance was timely indeed. In the first half particularly, when Robert Pires ran ragged his on-loan Arsenal colleague Moritz Volz, and Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp were in full flow, Arsenal looked capable of repeating last week's 5-1 rout of Internazionale in Milan.

The difference, as Wenger observed, was that Inter needed to win as much as Arsenal and left gaps as they pressed forward. Fulham, often drawing all 10 outfield players behind the ball, were always content with a barren stalemate that would restore them to fourth place in the Premiership. In the Arsenal manager's opinion, they were "obsessed by defending", even if they did break out midway through the second half to set up Steed Malbranque for a free header that flashed inches wide.

Coleman, whose first full season as a manager has also featured a 3-1 win at Old Trafford, would doubtless have taken his counterpart's complaint as a compliment. "It was one-way traffic," the Welshman admitted. "We worked hard all week on a certain system to stop them from scoring. It might not have looked pretty but we don't care because it worked. We know how good Arsenal can be."

Wenger, who finished the afternoon with a 2-4-4-formation in a desperate attempt to break through the white-shirted wall, conceded that his team had lacked a "spark" in their finishing and had ended up "trying to force it too much". That was certainly true of the second half, but in the first half Fulham enjoyed their share of fortune.

In terms of possession, Arsenal must have been somewhere between 80 and 90 per cent. Translating dominance into close-range chances proved problematic, with Van der Sar's saves almost all coming against shots from beyond the penalty spot. So dominant were they, however, that when Sol Campbell and Kolo Touré did not join their colleagues on the pitch until just before the second half kicked off, the thought occurred that they were confident of beating Fulham with nine men.

In the event, the visitors defended more calmly and mustered the odd counter-attack, Sylvain Legwinski protecting his back line studiously and Junichi Inamoto doubling up with Volz to keep Pires quieter. Arsenal also began to show the effects of their Italian exertions, though they still carved out scoring opportunities. The best fell to Bergkamp, who went for power rather than placement and was frustrated by his fellow Dutchman.

Although Arsenal remain unbeaten in the Premiership, Chelsea's win dislodged them from the summit. Pessimists among the Highbury support will have noticed that they were 10 points clear of United at the same stage last season. Optimists will look to the anticipated return from injury of Patrick Vieira, another of those Frenchmen whom England will face in Lisbon, for tomorrow's Carling Cup visit of Wolves.

Arsenal (4-4-2): Lehmann 6; Touré 7, Campbell 6, Cygan 6, Cole 6; Ljungberg 7 (Aliadière, 79), Gilberto Silva 5 (Kanu 5, 66), Edu 7, Pires 8; Bergkamp 7, Henry 7. Substitutes not used: Clichy, Hoyte, Stack (gk).

Fulham (4-5-1): Van der Sar 9; Volz 5, Knight 6, Melville 6, Bonnissel 7; Inamoto 6, Legwinski 7, Clark 6, Davis 6, Malbranque 7; Saha 6 (Hayles, 76). Substitutes not used: Sava, Djetou, Goma, Crossley (gk).

Referee: G Barber (Tring) 8.

Bookings: Arsenal: Edu. Fulham: Legwinski.

Man of the match: Van der Sar.

Attendance: 38,063.