Arsenal laboured to a 2-1 victory away to Nottingham Forest on Tuesday evening to close the gap at the Premier League summit.
Forest defended stoutly for 64 solid – if insufferable – minutes. Yet, Arsenal’s efficiency from dead balls saved them once again, with a shrewd throw-in (and Matt Turner’s welcoming stance) leading to Gabriel Jesus’ opener. Bukayo Saka doubled the visitors’ lead seven short minutes later.
Taiwo Awoniyi halved the deficit to set up a tense stoppage time but the visitors managed to cling on to their slender advantage, climbing two points behind league-leading Liverpool.
After watching Forest ship eight goals across his first four league games in charge, Nuno Espirito Santo sent his side out with an unashamed and unmistakable focus on tightening up at the back. At times in a painfully one-side first half, Forest’s defensive blockade was so deep the home centre-backs were fighting for elbow room with the first row of the Trent End.
Arsenal had completed more than 100 passes inside the final third before Forest managed their second. Yet, the visitors’ closest sight of goal came from Oleksandr Zinchenko’s hopeful fizz into a crowded penalty box. The ball broke for Saka but squirted narrowly wide of Forest’s upright.
The Gunners finally pulled off an intricate skein of passes which they had been trying without success for the first 57 minutes. Martin Odegaard and Saka combined to tee up Jesus who crashed the ball off the post.
With three-quarters of the contest navigated immaculately, Forest were punished for one brief flicker of indecision. Jesus was left unmarked at an Arsenal throw-in and, with time to let the ball trundle across his body, the Brazilian scurried to the byline and stabbed a shot which ricocheted kindly between Turner’s legs and into the Forest net.
The dam had been broken. As Forest loosened the stitching of their tight block, Arsenal had room to counter themselves. Gonzalo Montiel’s hurried clearance sparked a lightning break in the 72nd minute. Two passes and eight seconds after the wayward shank, Saka picked out the bottom corner.
Much of the pre-game buildup had been dominated by Emile Smith Rowe’s return to Arsenal’s starting XI but Forest welcomed back an even more integral figure. Awoniyi was only fit enough to come on half-time but immediately reminded the City Ground what they had been missing since November.
Fleet of foot and formidable in the air, Awoniyi bullied Arsenal’s own physical freak William Saliba before stabbing Forest back into the contest in the 89th minute. Stoppage time was three minutes old when the ball fell to Awoniyi again but David Raya was alert enough to make just his second save of the match.
GK: Matt Turner – 3/10 – Almost back-heeled the ball into his own goal for Arsenal’s decisive opener.
RB: Gonzalo Montiel – 4/10 – Undid what had been a solid display with a reckless turnover for Arsenal’s second goal.
CB: Andrew Omobamidele – 5/10 – Shaky despite being perennially surrounded by friendly red shirts.
CB: Murillo – 8/10 – Battered away anything that came in his general vicinity.
LB: Harry Toffolo – 6/10 – Desperately tried to stick touch-tight to Saka and rarely left his post.
CM: Danilo – 7/10 – Clogged up any pockets of space that briefly appeared in front of Forest’s compact back four.
CM: Orel Mangala – 6/10 – Afforded a slightly longer leash than Danilo but rarely ventured into Arsenal’s half.
AM: Morgan Gibbs-White – 8/10 – Forest’s highway between defence and attack, either driving forward with the ball at his feet or firing it into the space ahead of his teammates whenever a chance to counter presented itself.
RW: Neco Williams – 6/10 – More concerned with tracking back into his own half than penetrating Arsenal’s defensive third.
ST: Chris Wood – 6/10 – Faced with the towering pillars of Gabriel and Saliba, Wood held the ball up well.
LW: Nicolas Dominguez – 6/10 – Operated well in tight spaces and didn’t neglect his extensive defensive duties.
SUB: Taiwo Awoniyi (46′ for Wood) – 7/10 – Immediately unsettled Arsenal’s backline, offering Wood’s same physical prowess with more potent pace.
SUB: Callum Hudson-Odoi (64′ for Dominguez) – 5/10
SUB: Ryan Yates (71′ for Mangala) – 5/10
SUB: Anthony Elanga (71′ for Williams) – 5/10
Subs not used: Wayne Hennessey (GK), Odysseas Vlachodimos (GK), Joe Worrall, Felipe, Brandon Aguilera
Nuno Espirito Santo – 5/10 – Set his side up very well in the first half but couldn’t adjust after one lapse in concentration cost them.
GK: David Raya – 7/10 – Carried out what little work he had to do well.
RB: Ben White – 6/10 – Reticent to canter forward freely in support of Saka with Forest’s threat in transition always looming.
CB: William Saliba – 5/10 – Never got to grips with Awoniyi’s hulking presence eventually.
CB: Gabriel – 7/10 – Scarcely put a foot wrong throughout.
LB: Oleksandr Zinchenko – 7/10 – Saw plenty of possession but offered little penetration with the ball at his feet, but it was Zinchenko’s quick throw that broke the deadlock.
CM: Martin Odegaard – 5/10 – Caged by an unrelenting wall of red, Odegaard rarely had the room to find a way through until Forest unravelled.
CM: Declan Rice – 4/10 – Found himself in the unusual position of being repeatedly outmuscled by an opponent as Gibbs-White fought his way forward in transition.
CM: Emile Smith Rowe – 5/10 – On his first Premier League start since October, Smith Rowe didn’t quite have the sharpness to operate effectively in the thimble of space he was afforded.
RW: Bukayo Saka – 7/10 – As has become the norm this season, Saka was hounded after by at least two players. Mercifully found some room after the opener.
ST: Gabriel Jesus – 8/10 – As Arsenal grew increasingly frustrated, Jesus kept on sniffing and searching for that opening which finally arrived.
LW: Gabriel Martinelli – 4/10 – Muzzled even after the game opened up.
SUB: Kai Havertz (71′ for Smith Rowe) – 5/10
SUB: Leandro Trossard (78′ for Martinelli) – 5/10
SUB: Eddie Nketiah (78′ for Jesus) – 5/10
SUB: Jakub Kiwior (90′ for Zinchenko) – N/A
SUB: Jorginho (90′ for Odegaard) – N/A
Subs not used: Aaron Ramsdale (GK), Reuell Walters, Cedric Soares, Kai Havertz, Reiss Nelson
Mikel Arteta – 5/10 – Arsenal got the job done again but Arteta needs to find a way of greasing the wheels of his once free-flowing side in open play when the score is level.
