Arsenal have the swagger of CHAMPIONS! Winners & losers as Leandro Trossard shines in classy London derby win over Fulham

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.

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.

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.

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.

Partey’s first half performance was as good as it gets from a holding midfielder.

Arsenal were dominant through the first 45 minutes and a large part of that was because of the way Partey controlled the centre of the park.

Fulham just couldn’t get past him. 

The way he stopped a potential counter-attack and got Arsenal moving forward in the build-up to the third goal was a perfect example of how he bossed the game.

Partey is so integral to this Arsenal team. When he doesn’t play they look a completely different side. 

Keeping him fit between now and the end of the season will be so crucial to their hopes of lifting the title.

Martinelli now has five goals in his last five league games and has taken his tally for the season to 12.

Having lost his place in the starting XI last month ahead of the Aston Villa game, the young Brazilian has responded in the best way possible.

Whether he’s playing in the central role or in his more accustomed position wide on the left, Martinelli is such a threat and he’s really growing in terms of his influence as the season progresses.

He is having an impact on games on a weekly basis now and Arsenal are reaping the benefits as a result.