Fulham held Arsenal to a draw at Craven Cottage, jeopardizing their title aspirations.

Arsenal's Premier League title dreams were dashed after they were beaten to a 1-1 draw by Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Mikel Arteta's team had the opportunity to close the distance on Liverpool at the top to four points, but they put in a sluggish first half performance in which Fulham neutralized their forward threat with remarkable ease and took a merited lead via Raul Jiménez.

The second half saw an appropriate response from a squad who realized their chances of chasing down the leads were dwindling, and after William Saliba's equalizer in the 51st minute survived a lengthy VAR review, the stage appeared set for the visitors to sweep to victory.

However, Fulham exhibited amazing endurance in the face of repeated Arsenal pressure, demonstrating their own credentials as potential European competitors this season.

Bukayo Saka believed he had won it with an 87th-minute header when VAR intervened with an offside call against Gabriel Martinelli, as Marco Silva's gameplan eventually baffled Arsenal, leaving their title hopes in jeopardy.

Arsenal had nearly 70% possession in the first half but left with almost nothing to show for it at halftime. Fulham, on the other hand, attacked sparingly but efficiently on the counter, while also denying the visitors any space that could lead to Bernd Leno's goal.

The first objective was to provide a clear example. Fulham had overcome Arsenal's early dominance of the ball when Kenny Tete gained possession in his own half and quickly delivered a measured pass into the channel for Jimenez to follow. Jakub Kiwior allowed the ball run across him, allowing Jimenez to gallop into the area and shoot low across David Raya into the corner.

Declan Rice sent Leno sprinting across goal with a half-volley that went inches past the post as Arsenal created a rare moment of first-half promise, and Saka caused less concern for the goalkeeper with a dreadfully skewed volley at the far post.

Arsenal were unable to penetrate Fulham's penalty area due to a coordinated defensive effort. Saka found a valuable slice of space inside the box late in the half, but Leno matched his low near-post drive with a great stop.

Arsenal began the second half with renewed vigour and leveled within six minutes, with a set-piece delivering rich benefits for the Gunners.

Rice whipped a corner high to the far post, where Kai Havertz leapt to redirect it across goal and onto the foot of Saliba, who scored from three yards out.

Arsenal's next 20 minutes were better than their previous efforts, but they still fell short of Arteta's side at their most incisive.

Thomas Partey headed wide after Rice delivered another great corner, and Fulham reminded Raya of their own threat when replacement Andreas Pereira burst away and blasted a shot against his knees.

There was a stressful wait for home fans as VAR determined that Martinelli had strayed beyond the last defender before crossing for Saka, saving a point. Anything less would have been unfair to Fulham.