By Paul Stevens.

Arsenal had to dig deep and overcome a resilient and hardworking defensive performance from Nottingham Forest to eventually run out 1-0 winners.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

It was far from a vintage Arsenal performance, especially in the forward areas. The first half was another flat and overall poor quality football match which mirrored the first half against Leeds. Both sides created extraordinarily little, and it would have been Forest who went into half time happier.

Arsenal’s progression was far too slow, as was the ball speed. Repeatedly, the player in possession would slow or stop the ball to assess his options. This gave the Forest team plenty of time to get into a solid defensive shape which Arsenal could not break down. For a team which had 70% possession in each half to barely trouble the opposition really highlights the complete lack of threat created by the Arsenal offensive line.

A long look back at the history of this fixture would show that Arsenal had only won one game in six attempts. The solitary win was a 2-1 victory in the 2023/24 season. Forest had won the previous three fixtures, while the two most recent meetings between the clubs at the City Ground ended in 0-0 stalemates.

For prolonged periods of the day’s match, it looked likely that events would follow the previous two seasons, but the game sparked into life in the 72^nd minute.

Arsenal flowed forward with Bukayo Saka, who combined brilliantly with Martin Odegaard. The Norwegian then unlocked the Forest defence with a clever and incisive forward pass that unleashed Jurien Timber, who darted onto the pass and produced a perfect cut back from the bi-line. Onto the ball strode Declan Rice. The Arsenal midfielder seemed to have the goal at his mercy but appeared to lean back slightly as he struck the ball. The fierce strike flew high over the bar but was by far the best chance of the match.

Ten minutes later, Arsenal worked the ball down the left side. With the ball at Noni Madueke’s feet and not a great deal of movement ahead of him, Madueke cut in from the left and fired a powerful shot at goal. The first shot on target of the match took a wicked deflection off Forest defender Jair Cunha. The ricochet completely wrong-footed goalkeeper Matz Sels who was rooted to the spot. The strike then crashed into the top right corner of the Forest net. One nil to the Arsenal quickly rang out around a stunned City Ground. The home fans silenced by the late goal while the brilliant travelling Arsenal fans wildly celebrated.

While Arsenal looked much more comfortable after the goal went in, the period after the goal arguably presented Forest with two of their best chances in the match. The first came from a quick throw in on the Forest right, this released substitute Callum Hudson-Odoi to square a brilliant pass into the centre of the Arsenal penalty area. The cross found striker Chris Wood who should have hit a first-time strike. Had he done so, Arsenal would likely have seen their narrow one goal lead eradicated. As it was, the slight hesitation allowed Declan Rice to react and make a goal saving block. Still, the danger wasn’t over for the Gunners.

In the dying seconds of the game, Liam Delap smartly exploited a broken defensive line from Arsenal caused by Konza’s poor positioning. Suddenly, the Forest striker was barring down on the Arsenal goal on the left side of Forest’s attack. Delap exploded into the penalty area and just as he was about to execute a strike that could have caused the Gunners to drop two valuable points, Konza sprinted back and performed a perfectly timed sliding challenge to force the ball into touch. Arsenal’s new defender had more than made up for his earlier error with a goal saving block.

The final whistle sounded and Arsenal had earned a hard-fought win to close the gap at the top of the premier League to three points. The performance was far from ideal, and many Arsenal players had played miles below the lofty standards now expected of them by Arteta and fans alike, but the Gunners had found a way to win. Just like against Leeds, the team had responded to adversity and claimed a gruelling three points on the road.

Stat Focus.

While most games show a clear difference between the two halves, the Forest verses Arsenal fixture was almost identical on the stat sheet.

The first half showed a possession split 74%-26% in Arsenal’s favour. Despite the complete domination of the ball, the Gunners only managed to record three shots, none on target.

Predictably, Arsenal’s XG (expected goals) was an almost non existent 0.45. The home side managed an even more paltry figure of 0.24. 

Forest pressed aggressively and really suffocated any Arsenal attack, which showed a real lack of cutting edge or creativity, in what was a really frustrating watch.

Things improved slightly in the second half. The possession statistics remained the same and both sides improved on their XG. Arsenal recorded 0.62 and Forest 0.51 in the second half.

Forest actually recorded more total shots – nine, with two on target. Arsenal responded with just six, and one on target. But in a low scoring game, it is often the team which takes a chance that comes out on top, Noni Madueke’s introduction added one player who took a chance, and it paid off for the visitors to The City ground.

Star Player.

Both Declan Rice and Ezri Konza were very close to being this week’s star player for the pair’s immense defensive blocks. However, the spotlight falls onto Noni Madueke.

All of Arsenal’s forwards massively struggled in this fixture. Bukayo Saka just could not consistently beat his opponent, although Arsenal’s number seven did well to draw a yellow card from marker Neco Williams.

Kai Havertz continually struggled to hold the ball up and his link up play was completely absent.

Eberechi Eze’s place in the team was at odds with the team’s formation. Arteta’s early experiment to shoehorn the playmaker into a left-wing role is just not working. It does not seem to be working to get the best out of a mercurial talent and it appears to be failing to give this Arsenal side a balanced, or even functional forward line.

While Madueke only featured for the second half, his direct running and willingness to carry the ball forward at pace gave the struggling Arsenal attack an edge. It may not have been a world class or even a clinical edge, but he added something different and it worked.

This match needed players to take a risk and try something when in good attacking areas. While Arsenal passed up on the opportunity to get a shot away time and time again in both halves, the Arsenal goal came as a direct result of Maduke accepting responsibility and taking on the shot.

Madueke has showed so much promise during his time at Arsenal, the only thing missing is consistent end-product. After Eze failed to lock down the left wing as his own, Madueke can now stake his claim to be Arsenal’s starting left winger while Christos Tzolis remains sidelined.

A Look Ahead.

Next up for Arsenal is a truly monumental clash with European Royalty, Bayern Munich.

The Gunners travel away to face the German Champions at the Allianz Arena in the Champions League. The match kicks off at 8pm UK time on Wednesday 21^st October.

The Gunners ran out 3-1 winners the last time the two sides met, although that fixture was at the Emirates. Historically, Arsenal has found it incredibly difficult to win at Bayern’s highly partisan and hostile atmosphere. Which sets the game up to be a mouthwatering clash between two of the best sides in Europe.