Arsenal put on a performance worthy of potential champions of England as they cruised to a 3-0 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday.

Pressure? What pressure? If Arsenal are being made to feel uncomfortable by the presence of Manchester City behind them in the Premier League, then they are certainly not showing it.

Mikel Arteta’s side would have seen City close the gap at the top to just two points with their win at Crystal Palace on Saturday night, but they responded as if they didn’t have a care in the world as they brushed Fulham aside 3-0 at Craven Cottage on Sunday.

The league leaders were superb in the first half, scoring through Gabriel Magalhaes, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard to kill the game as a contest before the interval.

And they cruised through the second half to make it five successive wins in the league, a run that has seen them score 15 goals in the process.

It was a near-perfect afternoon for the visitors, who were even able to welcome star striker Gabriel Jesus back from injury in the second half.

Jesus could have given the day the perfect ending soon after coming on, but he saw his effort saved by Bernd Leno after he was played through by Fabio Vieira. 

GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from Craven Cottage…

GettyWINNER: Leandro Trossard

It’s nothing that hasn’t been said before, but Arsenal’s move to bring in Trossard in January is proving to be a masterstroke.

The Belgian international has slotted in seamlessly since arriving from Brighton and continues to impress with every showing.

Having missed the midweek trip to Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League due to a groin injury, Trossard returned to the starting XI at Craven Cottage and caused Fulham all sorts of problems.

His movement is exceptional and his ability to play with either foot makes him so difficult to play against as a defender, as was highlighted when he set up Gabriel Martinelli to make it 2-0.

That was Trossard’s second of three assists during the first half, having also set up Gabriel Magalhaes for the opener and Martin Odegaard for the third. 

He is now the first player in Premier League history to complete a hat-trick of assists away from home in the first half of a game.

That treble has now seen Trossard move on to five assists and one goal in his first nine Arsenal appearances. He’s been an exceptional piece of January business by the league leaders.

AdvertisementGettyLOSER: Antonee Robinson

This was a tough afternoon for the Fulham full-back.

Robinson really struggled, especially in the first half and he even had his own fans on his back as a result.

Arsenal’s movement caused him all sorts of problems and his failure to even challenge Martinelli for the second goal when the Arsenal forward rose to head home Trossard’s cross was poor.

It was a difficult game for all of the Fulham defenders, such was Arsenal's dominance, but Robinson in particular really struggled to live with the visitors.

GettyWINNER: Martin Odegaard

Arsenal’s captain has been suffering with illness and could easily have sat out this game.

But he wanted to play having had to miss the Europa League clash at Sporting on Thursday night, something that says a lot about Odegaard and his leadership skills. 

And the Gunners skipper came in and produced another excellent performance, pulling the strings as the visitors ripped Fulham to shreds at times.

His goal was expertly taken and takes his tally to 10 Premier League goals for the season.

With Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka already into double figures, Arsenal now have three players who have scored 10 or more league goals since the start of the campaign. Paris Saint Germain are the only other team in Europe’s top five leagues who can say that.

The one question mark people had over Odegaard centred around whether he scored enough goals in that No.10 role. That is a question the Norway international had answered emphatically this season.

GettyLOSER: Pep Guardiola

After watching his side grind out a hard earned win at Crystal Palace on Saturday night, Guardiola would have been looking at this fixture and hoping Fulham would provide Arsenal with a very stern test.

So the Manchester City boss will have been left massively disappointed by the way Arsenal cruised through the contest at Craven Cottage to immediately restore their five-point advantage at the top of the Premier League.

There is still plenty of time left in the title race but these are the type of performances that will leave Guardiola in no doubt that his team face a real fight in their attempts to retain their trophy.