Arsenal cruise past Fulham via Trossard hat trick of assists

LONDON — Arsenal re-established a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League with a comfortable 3-0 win against Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday.

Manchester City had cut the deficit earlier in the weekend through a 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace but the Gunners showed no signs of feeling the pressure as they raced into a 3-0 half-time lead through goals from Gabriel, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard.

Fulham improved a little after the interval with Bobby De Cordova-Reid forcing Aaron Ramsdale into a smart 69th-minute save before Aleksandar Mitrovic hit the crossbar from the resulting corner.

Gabriel Jesus returned from knee surgery to make his first appearance for Arsenal since Nov. 6, and missed a late chance after being played in by fellow substitute Fabio Vieira. But by then the visitors had already secured Mikel Arteta’s 100th win (including penalty shootout victories) in his 168th game as Arsenal manager which takes them one step closer to a first league title in 19 years.

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The Gunners arrived in west London facing a quick turnaround from Thursday’s 2-2 draw at Sporting CP. In the end, the preparation was probably the toughest thing about this fixture. The Gunners changed their travel plans, having originally intended to train in Lisbon on Friday before a bug struck multiple players and Arsenal chose instead to fly back from Portugal on Thursday evening.

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There was no sign of any ill effects, however, as Arsenal effectively killed this as a contest in the opening 45 minutes. Fulham have beaten Chelsea, drawn with Liverpool and only lost to Manchester United in stoppage-time this season. So, on paper, this represented another…