Fulham vs Arsenal: Gunners blow away Fulham to maintain five-point lead in the Premier League

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A breathtaking performance by Arsenal has taken them five points clear at the top of the Premier League as the Gunners blew away Fulham 3-0 at the Craven Cottage on Sunday (March 12).

In an important match, Arsenal started with a piece of welcoming news as Gabriel Jesus came back to the squad for the first time since the World Cup after recovering from his knee injury. Mikel Arteta also started Leandro Trossard and Martin Odegaard - the duo missed their midweek trip to Lisbon in the Europa League.

The Gunners struck first through Gabriel Magalhaes, who opened the scoring from a corner in the 21st minute. Six minutes later, Gabriel Martinelli doubled the lead for the Gunners as Mikel Arteta's men were all over their London rivals.

Leandro Trossard and Granit Xhaka missed guilt edge chances to take the game beyond Fulham, but Martin Odegaard made no mistake to make it 3-0 as the Gunners went to the break with a sizeable lead. Arsenal's January signing Leandro Trossard achieved a hattrick of assists in the first half.

After the break, Fulham created some chances, but never really threatened Aaron Ramsdale at the Arsenal goal. The league leaders created chances for themselves but couldn't extend their lead either. But in the end, all three points have headed to North London as the Gunners restore their five-point lead at the summit of the Premier League table. This is also Arsenal's fifth straight victory in the Premier League.

Aftermath:

Arsenal will be playing Sporting Lisbon next on Thursday in the 2nd leg of the Europa League round of 16 tie. They shared the spoils 2-2 in the first leg last week. In terms of the Premier League, they will be up against Crystal Palace at the Emirates next Sunday (March 19).

Fulham will be taking on Manchester United in the FA Cup in their next match.

Match Facts:

• Leandro Trossard became the first Arsenal player to have a hattrick of assists within the first half since Cesc Fabregas in 2009.

• With the goal of Martin Odegaard, Arsenal become the only team to have three players with 10 or more goals in the Premier League this season. Gabriel Martinelli (12), Bukayo Saka (10) and Martin Odegaard (10) have goals in double figures for the Gunners so far this term.