Arsenal v Fulham player ratings: Gabriel Martinelli 8, Bukayo Saka 7; Alphonse Areola 8, Josh Maja 6

Late heartbreak for relegation-haunted Fulham after substitute Nketiah earns Arsenal deserved point

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  ARSENAL RATINGS: Mat Ryan - 7: Making his home debut, goalkeeper on loan from Brighton was wrong-footed by Holding deflection on Maja shot in first half and was relieved to see ball trickle centimetres wide. Apart from that, what little he had to do, he did well and even played role in winner after joining the last-gasp Arsenal attack, with flicked header from corner. AFP

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  Hector Bellerin - 7: Captain provided good cross from right in opening few minutes that caused problems in the Fulham defence. Perfect ball for countryman Ceballos to head home five minutes before break only for VAR to intervene. Headed chance wide in second half. Solid defensively, although not exactly up against much of a threat. EPA

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  Gabriel - 6: Scored debut goal against Fulham on opening weekend of season but was happy to keep things tight at back for Gunners this time round. In total control until just before hour mark when a slight clip on Lemina in box gave Fulham a penalty. PA

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  Rob Holding - 7: Deflected Maja shot just wide of target after 20 minutes. Hardly troubled by Fulham attack although was lucky not to be caught in possession dribbling out from back in last 20 minutes. EPA

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  Granit Xhaka - 8: Making 150th Premier League appearance. Playing at left-back once again in absence of Kieran Tierney and looked like he’d played there all his career. Some trademark crunching tackles and a fine game from the Swiss. AFP

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  Dani Ceballos - 7: Screamed for Martinelli to leave ball in box early on when better placed only for teammate to take shot on himself and see strike saved. Then denied his first Premier League goal just before break, this time when VAR disallowed his fine header because Saka’s big toe was offside. Getty

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  Mohamed Elneny - 6: Egyptian midfielder was efficient playing in screening role in front of defence. Guilty of not releasing ball quickly enough to teammates and slowing down attacks on occasions. AFP

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  Bukayo Saka - 7: So difficult to mark as he drifts across pitch, always linking well with teammates, always a menace to Fulham. End of foot being in offside position cost Ceballos a goal. Skinned Robinson down right just after half-time and saw miss-hit cross his top of post. Saw curling effort drift just wide with a couple of minutes to go. PA

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  Emile Smith Rowe - 6: At the heart of Arsenal’s early dominance with some lovely touches and passes. Couldn’t keep shot down after being played in by Ceballos on edge of box 20 minutes in. Influence waned as match went on. AFP

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  Gabriel Martinelli - 8: Two chances in opening 10 minutes. Brazilian lobbed first chance just wide after just one minute after through-ball by Lacazette, then saw low shot on turn saved well by Areola. Supplied some excellent balls into box in second half, one of which nearly ended up with a goal for Pepe. Had another shot saved by Areola late on and performance deserved a goal. Reuters

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  Alexandre Lacazette - 7: Perfect ball over defence in opening minute to put Martinelli in on goal but teammate lobbed chance wide. French striker only fired first shot in anger a minute after half-time but his low strike from outside area flew a couple of metres off target. Pulled up with hamstring problem with 20 minutes to go which will be major concern for Arsenal. Reuters

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  SUBS: Nicolas Pepe – (On for Bellerin 68’) 6: Nearly scored minutes after coming on but saw header saved by Areola. Getty

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  Thomas Partey – (On for Elneny 67’) 6: Helped keep the pressure and delivered one fine ball into box that Fulham only just scrambled away for corner. Getty

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  Eddie Nketiah – (On for Lacazette 70’) 7: Had one shot blocked by Reed and then tapped home from close range to earn Arsenal point in game they should have won comfortably. PA

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  FULHAM RATINGS; Alphonse Areola - 8: Fine one-handed save low down from Martinelli in opening 10 minutes. Saw ball hit back of his net twice in first half but linesman’s flag and VAR came to rescue. Fine reaction save with leg from point-blank range to deny substitute Pepe goal from header. Another more routine stop to deny Martinelli in last minute. Yellow card for time-wasting. Reuters

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  Ola Aina - 6: Right-back struggled to contain Martinelli and Arsenal in opening quarter and gave Brazilian too much time on ball. Stuck to task but always seemed on back foot. Reuters

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  Joachim Andersen - 6: Danish captain caught in no man’s land in opening minutes when Smith Rowe cut back ball from byline and was left on knees after failing to cut out pass. Deflected into own net just before half-time but lineman’s flag had already gone up for offside. One superbly timed intervention on cross in second half with Martinelli ready to pounce. Defender on loan from Lyon was booked for foul on Xhaka. PA

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  Tosin Adarabioyo - 6: Caught ball watching after 67 minutes when Bellerin was allowed free header in centre of penalty area. Important clearance from inside six-yard box after Areola saved Pepe header. Reuters

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  Antonee Robinson - 5: American left-back, like rest of defence, struggled to cope with Arsenal at start before regaining semblance of control. Left for dead by Saka’s trickery just after half-time. At least offered Fulham an outlet down his flank. Reuters

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  Ademola Lookman - 6: Only Fulham player to look remotely threatening in opening half without ever causing any major problems for Arsenal backline. Sacrificed with 20 minutes to go as Fulham tried to shut-up shop. PA

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  Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa - 6: Some driving runs out of midfield but no cutting edge to final balls. Provided Fulham with some midfield energy. AFP

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  Mario Lemina - 5: Gabonese midfielder was anonymous in first half but saw run into box checked by Gabriel, although with minimal contact, to earn Fulham penalty for their goal just before hour mark. Backed out of tackle in injury-time when more bravery was needed. Reuters

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  Bobby De Cordova-Reid - 4: Fulham top scorer this season with seven goals was up against a makeshift left-back in Xhaka but got little joy out of the Swiss and even when he did find a bit of room, his crossing was poor. Booked for foul on Ceballos and gave away corner for late leveller. EPA

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  Ivan Cavaleiro - 4: Like rest of Fulham attack, Portuguese offered no threat in attack. Sloppy with distribution at times as well. Reuters

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  Josh Maja - 6: Former Sunderland and Bordeaux striker saw his miss-hit shot deflect off Holding and trundle agonisingly wide for a corner in first half. Drilled penalty into roof of net to put Fulham in front from only shot on target they had in entire game. EPA

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  SUBS: Harrison Reid – (On for Lookman 69’) 7: Excellent after coming on and helped maintain Fulham resistance, including superb block on Nketiah shot, until late heartbreak. Reuters

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  Ruben Loftus-Cheek - (On for Maja 77’) N/A. Reuters

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  Joe Bryan – (On for Cavaleiro 84’) N/A. AFP

Eddie Nketiah delivered a hammer blow to Fulham's bid for Premier League survival as the Arsenal striker's last-gasp goal rescued a 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

Mikel Arteta's side were seconds away from a first ever home defeat against Fulham as they laboured to find a response to Josh Maja's second half penalty.

But Nketiah pushed Fulham closer to relegation deep into stoppage-time when he tapped in after the visitors failed to clear a corner.

It was a major setback for third bottom Fulham, who are six points behind fourth bottom Burnley and fifth bottom Brighton with just five games left.

After losing their previous four matches, Fulham were on course to mark Scott Parker's 100th match in charge with a memorable scalp.

Instead, they slipped closer to an immediate return to the Championship. "I'm disappointed and gutted," Parker said. "I've just seen their goal back. Rob Holding looks offside to me. That's what's disappointing.

"We were so close so it's been painful. As disappointed as I am now and the team are we'll wake up tomorrow and we will fight again."

Ninth placed Arsenal are nine points adrift of the top four and their best hope of reaching next season's Champions League is winning the Europa League.

Arteta's men face Villarreal in the semi-finals after cruising to a 4-0 victory at Slavia Prague in the quarter-final second leg on Thursday.

"We have to just focus on the boys playing away in Europe and arriving here with the desire to go all the way to the end," Arteta said.

"We took risks in the right way, we could have scored three or four, we totally deserved to win the match but put ourselves in a difficult position."

Arsenal thought they had taken the lead when Dani Ceballos looped his header past Alphonse Areola from Hector Bellerin's cross.

But the Spaniard was denied his first Premier League goal after VAR ruled Bukayo Saka's toes were in an offside position in the build-up.

Saka hit the outside of the near post with a cross-shot before Fulham received another helping hand from VAR in the 59th minute.

Mario Lemina was ruled just onside as he burst into the penalty area before making a theatrical tumble after Gabriel stood on his foot.

After a lengthy review, Maja took the penalty, lifting it high into the net for his first goal in nine games and only his third since arriving on loan from Bordeaux in February.

There was more frustration for Arsenal when Alexandre Lacazette limped off with a hamstring injury.

Fulham's nerve cracked with seconds left in seven minutes of stoppage-time.

Bobby Decordova-Reid needlessly conceded a corner and from the set-piece, Arsenal keeper Mat Ryan came up and rose highest for a header that reached Granit Xhaka.

When Xhaka's low drive was pushed out by Areola, Nketiah was on hand to break Fulham's hearts as he tapped in from close-range.