Arsenal 2, Fulham 0: An Arsenal side that can cause a frenzy of excitement has begun to appreciate the joys of calm. Having won 1-0 at Portsmouth they kept another clean sheet here and showed only marginally more inclination to run amok. They must have taken the measure of an insipid Fulham team in the opening minutes and acted accordingly.
The captain, Patrick Vieira, had remarked on the traditionally arduous nature of a festive programme comprising four matches in 10 days and Arsenal made sparing use of their store of energy. Newcastle United should prepare themselves for bright-eyed visitors on Wednesday night.
Yesterday Fulham had a glazed expression. The team selection, which deposited Steed Malbranque and Sylvain Legwinski on the bench, was meant to be rugged yet presented scarcely any obstacle whatsoever. The opposition's plans are often an irrelevance to Thierry Henry, whose opener felt as if it would do as a decider if need be.
Were it not so stylish, the 12th-minute goal would have been a cliche, so commonly does the Frenchman strike in this manner from this position. The referee Barry Knight showed discrimination in ignoring the foul by Zat Knight on Freddie Ljungberg as he released the striker.
Henry, in his favourite site on the left of the area, resorted to one of his favourite ploys. Initially shaping to sprint for the byline, he actually doubled back inside to leave Ian Pearce stranded before potting his goal with a shot across the goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar that pinged off the inside of the post.
Pearce must forgive himself since it is not just Henry's guile but the sheer fluidity of his movement that bewilders centre halves. So many of them have been undone over the years that the attacker has 128 league goals to his name at the club, as many as Ian Wright struck for Arsenal.
"I wasn't aware that I had gone level with Ian but whatever I do is not enough for some people," said Henry, apparently stung by the criticism from some quarters that he lacks goals in big games.
Wright holds the Highbury scoring record in all competitions (including the Charity Shield), with a tally of 185, but Henry will better that once he has hit the net another 15 times. Arsenal need him to stay prolific if they are to have any hope of tracking down the Premiership leaders.
"It's too far from the end of the season to be speculating about slip-ups by Chelsea," Arsene Wenger protested after this win.
He may have meant primarily that Arsenal cannot waste mental energy on such matters when they have still to convince themselves that they have hauled themselves out of a swamp of bad form that stretched across the autumn.
"The teams who come here just think they will score at set-pieces," said Wenger. "It doesn't look so easy any more."
Nothing at all, however, came easy for Fulham. Chris Coleman was in earnest when he deemed this a vast improvement on last Monday's loss at Charlton, the view of a manager who knows that his side could yet be in the thick of a relegation ordeal.
Zesh Rehman, advanced a little from his usual berth at centre half so that he was in an area of personal insecurity, typified the anxiety of the team. Just short of the interval, his confidence had drooped to such an extent that his attempt to sweep a free-kick to the wing merely sent the ball out of play.
Fulham did regroup and Collins John put a drive a yard wide at the start of the brief period when an equaliser was conceivable. After 65 minutes, Rehman forced the ball to Tomasz Radzinski but the forward could not lob the on-rushing Manuel Almunia.
Arsenal should have completed their task earlier than they did, but Ljungberg missed with a header and Henry drove a perfect cutback from Robert Pires against the bar.
The prolific winger scored on his own account after 71 minutes. Ljungberg crossed, Dennis Bergkamp dummied and Pires side-stepped Moritz Volz before shooting home for his 10th Premiership goal of the season.
No one should lose sight of a man whom Fulham could never keep under surveillance. His sleek and nonchalant goal may be the real sign that an Arsenal recovery is under way.
l Guardian Service
