London (AFP)

Easy winner at the promoted Fulham (3-0) thanks to Alexandre Lacazette and his two Brazilian recruits Willian and Gabriel, Arsenal became the first leader of the English championship on Saturday for the opening of the new season.

After winning the FA Cup against Chelsea (2-1) and during the Community Shield against Liverpool (1-1, 5-4 after tab), Arsenal confirmed their excellent form.

Mikel Arteta's men showed a confident face in this London derby, facing Cottagers who found the elite a year after leaving it and where the former Paris goalkeeper SG Alphonse Areola was on the bench .

"I wanted to see my team determined (...) We put a lot of energy and applied what we had worked on in training during this period," the coach was satisfied after the match.

Without Mesut Özil or Matteo Guendouzi, who did not even appear on the scoresheet, the Gunners quickly took the lead thanks to the holder and opportunist Alexandre Lacazette to push into the net a messed up ball in the area (0-1, 9th) .

It was then the Brazilian Willian, snatched at Chelsea where he was at the end of his contract this summer, and already involved in the first goal, who showed what he could bring in the game and on set pieces.

He first sent a free kick at the entrance to the surface on the post (26th), before delivering a tense and precise corner to Gabriel Magalhaes, just arrived from Lille, who scored from close to the head, in a very passive Fulham defense (0-2, 49th).

The performance of the defender, elected man of the match, was highlighted by Arteta.

"Gabi was really good, I think he had not played for six months with what happened in France (the cancellation of the end of the previous season, note). For the new ones, even more that for the others, it was brilliant today, "said the coach.

- 'Big 4' in front -

Willian, still him, then shifted well Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, demarcated on the left, and the Gabonese entered the box before sending an inside of the right foot, worthy of the best hours of Thierry Henry, in the opposite window (0-3, 57th).

The future of the forward, with only one year left on his contract, is expected to brighten soon, Arteta said.

"I am very confident that we will conclude very quickly and with a little luck you will have news in the next few days," he said.

The weakness of the opponent invites us to put this success into perspective, especially since in the second minute, a too soft back pass from Ainsley Maitland-Niles, which Gabriel had let slip to Bernd Leno, could have offered the opening of the score to the promoted without the intervention of the German goalkeeper in the feet of Aboubakar Camara.

But if the "Big 4" seems out of reach for the title race, Arsenal could well have a card to play for qualification in C1.

In the second game of the afternoon, Crystal Palace got off to a good start by beating (1-0) Southampton, still difficult to maneuver, on a goal from Wilfried Zaha in the 12th minute.

From 5.30 p.m., Liverpool will begin the defense of their first league title in 30 years by hosting Leeds from Marcelo Bielsa, while West Ham will receive Newcastle at 6 p.m. GMT to close this first part of the first day.

© 2020 AFP