Captain Henry guns down Fulham

Arsenal 4 Fulham 1

The scoreline was given a somewhat misleading gloss at Highbury by sustained late pressure from Arsenal, with the unlikely figure of Pascal Cygan also scoring twice but Henry’s double moved him to within just one goal of matching Ian Wright’s all-time club goalscoring record.

The Gunners had taken time to shake off their Stamford Bridge hangover in this Premiership encounter, with Fulham seizing an early lead through Claus Jensen, who punished Kolo Toure’s mistake, while Lauren was denied from the penalty spot by on-loan keeper Tony Warner.

However, Cygan headed home an equaliser - only his second goal for the club - before Arsenal were rescued by their new captain as he led by example in taking his all-time tally to 184 goals for the club.

In midfield, Arsenal continue to lack the presence of Patrick Vieira while in defence they need a fully-fit Sol Campbell to return, with Cygan drafted in for Philippe Senderos, dropped from even the bench having found his confidence shot to pieces after being exposed by Didier Drogba.

Wenger criticised his side for failing to create enough meaningful chances against Chelsea and they were just as guilty in the early stages at Highbury. Ashley Cole wasted the chance to pick out the unmarked figure of Henry after just two minutes and when the Frenchman was brought down by Zat Knight soon afterwards after an excellent pass by Alexander Hleb, he earned his side a penalty.

Henry never takes penalties when he has been brought down so up stepped Lauren, who had never missed a spot-kick in his career. That changed last night, his penalty was weakly struck and Warner was able to save easily.

The on-loan keeper produced an even better save from Cesc Fabregas but Arsenal were duly made to pay for their profligacy on 23 minutes, when Fulham seized a surprise lead. Toure failed to clear Tomasz Radzinski’s low cross and Jensen pounced on the loose ball to clip a superb shot into the top corner, past Jens Lehmann’s despairing dive.

Arsenal were guilty of trying to walk the ball into the net but even Warner could not hold them at bay forever. With 13 minutes left before the interval, Dennis Bergkamp curled in an inviting free-kick and, as the Fulham rearguard remained static, Cygan beat two team-mates to meet the ball at close range and head past the exposed keeper.

Still Arsenal could take nothing for granted at the back, with Luis Boa Morte feeding a defence-splitting pass to Brian McBride who could only fire his shot over the top.

After the break, McBride should have done much better with a Radzinski cross, which Cygan failed to cut out, scrambling the effort wide before Henry promptly gave a lesson in finishing. Reyes clipped a ball over the top of the Fulham defence but Henry still had to bring it under control before firing a superb shot past Warner.

At times, especially with Reyes in possession, Arsenal’s approach play was close to its mesmeric best. On other occasions they were simply trying too hard. But while Warner denied Bergkamp and Gilberto, the class of Henry was all too clear as he sped onto substitute Mathieu Flamini’s ball to calmly chip the keeper.

Cygan then put a flattering gloss on the scoreline by thumping home his second goal from close range after Toure had failed to convert Bergkamp’s inviting cross.

ARSENAL: Lehmann, Lauren, Toure, Cygan, Cole, Hleb (Clichy 83), Silva, Fabregas, Reyes (Flamini 77), Bergkamp, Henry.

FULHAM: Warner, Volz, Knight, Rehman, Niclas Jensen, Claus Jensen, Diop, Boa Morte, Malbranque, McBride (John 64), Radzinski.

Referee: M Clattenburg (Co Durham).