THE Gunners' Champions Leaugue chase looks to be in ruins after they fired more blanks.
Arsenal blew the chance to close the gap on fourth-placed Aston Villa as they slumped to their fourth straight goalless draw in the Premier League.
Arsene Wenger's men had enough chances to win two matches. But Robin van Persie and Co once again forgot to put on their shooting boots as Fulham consolidated their place in the top half.
Gunners chief Wenger admitted his side have lost it mentally in front of goal.
He said: “There is a big desire to do well and to make sure we score but it is not there at the moment.
“Our goalscoring record has dried out over more than five games.
“There are plenty of reasons - one of them is certainly psychological. But overall it’s hard to assess what is tactical, what is technical and what is psychological.
“The more I speak about it, the more there is a problem.
“I don’t think it’s about us only trying to score the perfect goal - the perfect goal is only when the ball touches the net.”
Visiting boss Roy Hodgson claimed his side might have taken all three points had they, too, not switched off their radars in front of goal.
He said: “I am disappointed we didn’t win it - our shooting wasn’t at its best.
“When Arsenal got behind us, they tested Schwarzer more than we tested Almunia.
“We could have made him make more saves but it’s a good draw for us.”
It was end-to-end stuff straight from the kick-off with Andy Johnson and Samir Nasri dragging efforts wide at each end.
Fulham midfielder Simon Davies beat the offside trap but fired his shot over the crossbar from just inside the box.
Johnson should have put the visitors ahead when he was released by a knockdown from Bobby Zamora and a brilliant touch turned marker Kolo Toure inside out.
However, the former England striker then slipped the ball wide of Manuel Almunia’s left-hand post.
It was all Fulham, as Clint Dempsey had a shot blocked at the near post.
However, in the 10th minute, only a brilliant reaction save from Mark Schwarzer stopped Van Persie from putting Arsenal in front with a bullet header after Andrey Arshavin’s weighted chip across the six-yard box.
Dempsey drilled a long-range effort wide before Arshavin fired an angled shot over.
Zamora’s low strike from the edge of the area was collected by Almunia at his near post.
Danny Murphy drilled a shot just over the angle of post and bar as Fulham again signalled their attacking threat.
After 35 minutes, a superb slide-rule pass from the impressive Arshavin released Van Persie but Schwarzer was quick off his line to make the block, with the Arsenal striker then seeing his follow-up shot deflected behind.
Nasri nipped into the box on the left but his shot was blocked behind by Brede Hangeland.
From the resulting corner, Van Persie sent a header on to the roof of the net.
Bacary Sagna chipped the ball in from the right and Van Persie’s glancing header hit the outside of the far post.
With 27 minutes left, Wenger turned to Nicklas Bendtner as the big Dane replaced Carlos Vela.
Fulham continued to look dangerous on the break and a deflected effort from Johnson looped on to the roof of the net.
Bendtner latched on to a short backpass and held the ball up on the goalline before crossing to the far post, where an angled drive from a tired Arshavin flew behind.
Schwarzer used his legs to keep out Abou Diaby’s downward header on the line.
Arshavin was put in on the left and Schwarzer stood up well at the near post to tip his fierce drive behind.
Arsenal continued to press during four minutes of stoppage time but were once again left frustrated at the final whistle as the boos rang out around Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna (Eboue 70), Toure, Gallas, Clichy, Arshavin, Denilson, Diaby, Nasri, Van Persie, Vela (Bendtner 63). Subs not used: Fabianski, Ramsey, Song Billong, Djourou, Gibbs.
Fulham: Schwarzer, Baird (Stoor 46), Hangeland, Hughes, Konchesky, Davies, Murphy, Etuhu, Dempsey (Gera 88), Johnson, Zamora. Subs not used: Zuberbuhler, Nevland, Kamara, Dacourt, Kallio.
