Aaron Ramsdale and Bukayo Saka skewered as Fulham take shock lead against Arsenal

Aaron Ramsdale and Bukayo Saka's errors saw Fulham claim an early lead against Arsenal.

With just a minute on the clock Arsenal's talisman Saka misplaced a pass straight to Fulham's Andreas Pereira, allowing the Brazilian to have a free run at goal.

And with Ramsdale chaotically back-peddling and out of position, Pereira struck a tepid shot beyond the England shot-stopper and into the bottom corner.

Saka went on to miss a glorious opportunity to equalise in the first half. Leandro Trossard crossed to the back post from the left and the ball found an unmarked Saka. However the winger could only plant his header into the ground and then over the bar.

Nevertheless it will be Ramsdale in particular feeling the heat after the opener, with Mikel Arteta having signed David Raya from Brentford earlier in the window as competition.

The Spaniard joined earlier this month on an initial £3million loan deal with a £27million option to buy next summer.

The £27million option will become an obligation depending if certain conditions are met, primarily appearances.

Raya had been an integral part of the Brentford's side, playing in all 38 of their Premier League matches last term.

Ahead of Raya's arrival Ramsdale insisted he was ready to fight for his place.

“Bring it on,” Ramsdale told ITV Sport when asked about Raya’s expected arrival.

“Nothing comes easy in football, but you need to move along and need to adapt as well yourself.

“I’ve done it to other people when I’ve moved to clubs, so I’m not going to be thinking that it’s never going to happen to me. If it happens, it happens. We’ll fight and we’ll make each other the best version of ourselves. That’s what the manager is telling us as well.

“I’m sure whoever plays, me, Matt [Turner], whoever comes in... the goalkeeper union, people will laugh at it but it’s a real thing. Your individual disappointment will go away and you put the team first and you put that goalkeeper first.”

Topics: Fulham, Premier League, Aaron Ramsdale, Bukayo Saka, Arsenal

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.