Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal beat Nottingham Forest 1-2 at The City Ground in a must win game making it back-to back wins in the Premier League.
The Arsenal manager made two changes to the side that thrashed Crystal Palace, with Gabriel Martinelli starting following his brace off the bench versus The Eagles. And Emile Smith Rowe was rewarded with just his second start in the Premier League this campaign following his own bright cameo in The Gunners last outing.
Early on at The City Ground, it became clear that the home side planned to sit low and deep and wait for counter-attacking opportunities – a tactic familiar with newly appointed Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo. With Arsenal seeing almost all of the ball in the opening stages and keeping the majority of the action in the Forest defensive third. But for all of their possession, the Gunners failed to test former Gunner Matt Turner with an effort on target in the opening forty-five minutes. With a relatively tame effort from Bukayo Saka which was almost diverted in by Forest defender Murillo the closest they came to breaking the deadlock.
However, Mikel Arteta’s side came out of the interval and into the second half with more purpose and intensity. An attacking change from Forest saw striker Taiwo Awoniyi enter the action which left more space for the Gunners to find as they looked for the opener. Gabriel Jesus smashed Turner’s near post from close range following a lovely move and the Brazilian should’ve hit the target. But in the sixty-fifth minute Arsenal’s number 9 did hit the target following some quick thinking from Oleksandr Zinchenko with a throw-in. Jesus found himself in the box and squeezed his effort low and hard at the near post past Turner who perhaps should have done better, but Arsenal were finally rewarded for their domaince on the ball with a goal which had been coming for a while.
Despite remaining in control of the game and limiting Forest to almost zero threatening attacks, having only one goal keeps the game on it’s edge. However, the second goal came soon after the breakthrough came as a swift counter attack from a Forest corner saw Jesus leading the play, his pass found Saka who took a touch and struck the ball into the far bottom corner with his right foot to double Arsenal’s lead.
The game looked done and finished, although out of nothing Forest found a goal back through Awoniyi after a cross was swung into the Arsenal penalty area. The ball came down and the Nigerian striker easily outmuscled William Saliba and slotted the ball home to set up a nervy finish for Arsenal. However, the Gunners held on to claim a big three points in a game which they shouldn’t have let it be as close as it ended up being.
The three points though is all that matters as Emirates Stadium prepares to play host to arguably it’s biggest afternoon of the season so far as Liverpool come to N5 in a massive encounter.
Player Ratings:
David Raya: 7 – Had nothing to do bar claiming a few crosses and a late save at the end to prevent an equaliser. Could do nothing about the goal
Ben White: 7 – Has looked more like himself in the last two games following a poor run of form. overlapped and defended well
William Saliba: 6 – A rare error from Saliba who found himself easily dealt with by Awoniyi for the Forest goal
Gabriel Magalḥes: 7 РSolid evening again
Oleksandr Zinchenko: 8 – Perhaps was asleep in the build-up for the Forest goal but was really good for the previous 87 minutes. Got an assist, saw a lot of the ball and always looked likely to make something happen
Declan Rice: 7 – A strong evening, helped break up multiple counter-attacks
Martin Odegaard: 7 – Led by example and like Zinchenko, always looked likely to make something happen
Emile Smith Rowe: 7 – Didn’t see as much of the ball as Zinchenko or Odegaard but always looked bright when on it
Bukayo Saka: 8 – Scored the second and looked back to his best
Gabriel Jesus: 8 – Could’ve been the villain of the evening after hitting the post, but turned himself into the hero with a goal and assist to win the game for Arsenal
Gabriel Martinelli: 6 – Didn’t quite have that X factor compared to his fellow forwards