“Arsenal kept alive their dream of winning the Premier League with Saturday’s 3-0 defeat of Fulham on Saturday, manager Mikel Arteta said.”

“Arsenal rediscovered their attacking verve as they blew away Fulham with a first-half masterclass, with fit-again Bukayo Saka on song and summer signing Viktor Gyokeres delivering arguably his best performance for the Gunners.”

“Their season had seemed to be unravelling, with March’s League Cup final defeat to title rivals Manchester City being followed by an FA Cup quarterfinal loss to second-tier Southampton to end their pursuit of a quadruple.”

“Back-to-back losses in the league, the second at Manchester City, then saw Arsenal cede the advantage to their rivals, and they were knocked off the top of the Premier League for the first time since October when City beat Burnley last week.”

“Having lost just three of 49 games in all competitions, a run of four defeats in eight prompted questions about Arsenal’s mentality and their ability to finally add to the 2020 FA Cup, their only major trophy under Arteta.”

“But Arsenal shrugged off recent shaky performances and the exertions of Wednesday night’s Champions League semifinal first leg at Atletico Madrid to move six points clear at the top of the league with their assured 3-0 win over Fulham.”

“The Gunners were out of sight at the break after what Arteta described as one of their best first-half performances of the season, allowing him the luxury of resting key players before the visit of Atletico on Tuesday, taking off Saka at halftime and withdrawing Gyokeres and Declan Rice around the hour-mark.”

“Arteta said his side needed to harness the positivity of Saturday’s performance and take it into Tuesday’s game, with his side four — and possibly five — games from greatness.”