Mannone’s brilliant display saves 3 points for Arsenal

Vito Mannone's teammates lined up to shake his hand after a man of the match display against Fulham on Saturday afternoon that justified Arsene Wenger's confidence in the young Italian goalkeeper, who is yet another graduate of the club's youth production line.

The 21-year-old saved a below-par Gunners side from what could have been an ugly mauling, repelling strikes from Bobby Zamora, Andrew Johnson, Clint Dempsey and Zoltan Gera that should have seen the Cottagers handsome winners but instead saw Arsenal escape with three points to keep in touch with the early Premier League leaders.

"I would give him 10 out of 10 as he did everything right," Wenger said after the London derby. "He didn't make a wrong decision. He kept us in the game in some unbelievable situations. Sometimes a goalkeeper looks unbeatable and he looked like that. He is a quiet boy with an outstanding physique and fantastic reflexes, and he is very passionate about the game."

There had been rumours before the game that Mannone, who had a somewhat topsy turvy start to the season, letting in two goals within five minutes against Standard Liege in the Champions League a fortnight ago, could make way for Wojciech Szczesny, the 19-year-old fourth-choice keeper at the Emirates. Wenger's first choice keepers Manuel Almunia and Lucasz Fabianski are both injured at present.

But the youngster, who was barely troubled during the previous weekend's 4-0 win at the Emirates against Wigan, was called into action from the outset on Saturday, palming away efforts from Dempsey, Johnson and Gera within the first ten minutes. On 15 minutes he denied Johnson and Dempsey again, the highlight for many commentators and the player himself, who said: "For me my favourite save was the double save in the first half when I went to my right. It gave me a lot of confidence."

Mannone's display, which included a point-blank save from Zamora with ten minutes of the game to go will delight Wenger and give him a welcome team selection quandary when Almunia and Fabianski return to duty. ·