Nottingham Forest (0) 1 Arsenal (0) 2
Premier League
City Ground, West Bridgford, Nottingham NG2 5FJ
Tuesday, 30th January 2024. Kick-off time: 7.30pm
(4-3-3) David Raya; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Oleksandr Zinchenko; Martin Ødegaard (c), Declan Rice, Emile Smith-Rowe; Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli.
Substitutes: Aaron Ramsdale, Eddie Nketiah, Jakob Kiwior, Cédric Soares, Leandro Trossard, (Jorge Luiz Frello Filho) Jorginho, Reiss Nelson, Kai Havertz, Reuell Walters.
Scorers: Gabriel Jesus (64 mins), Bukayo Saka (71 mins)
Yellow Cards: Gabriel Jesus
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 75%
Referee: Simon Hooper
Assistant Referees: Adrian Holmes, Simon Long
Fourth Official: Graham Scott
VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Jarred Gillett; AVAR Richard West
Attendance: 29,387
Tonight’s match is vitally important, because if we take all three points at the City Ground, then we are second in the Premiership table, just two points behind leaders Liverpool. Our defender Gabriel will return having been assessed by the medical team, as will Declan Rice of course, but sadly Thomas Partey remains sidelined with injury. It is also good to see Emile Smith-Rowe making a welcome return to the first team, along with young Reuell Walters, who is on the substitute’s bench this evening.
We started proceedings here at the City Ground tonight, and almost immediately we started stroking the ball around with absolute confidence. We were dominating the game in the early stages, and although we were not giving any spaces away for the home side to capitalise on, there was still a wee bit of a sting in their tails tonight, it appears. Martin Ødegaard tried to play a reverse pass with Emile Smith-Rowe looking to grab it, but he could not get there in time and the ball simply dribbled out of play for a Forest goal kick. Our pressurised game was so strong that the home side just simply could not break out of their half, and after a superb strike from our captain which was blocked by a defender, Emile Smith-Rowe cut into the penalty area from the left-hand side, but his cross was flicked over the bar by Gabriel Jesus. The match appeared to be played entirely in the Forest half, and despite our best efforts in trying to score, a lot of our efforts were blocked by the Forest defenders constantly. However, Chris Wood did get to the edge of our penalty area, but good covering from Oleksandr Zinchenko saw off the threat, minor though it was. After some good build-up play, Emile Smith-Rowe turned and took a quick shot, but it flew harmlessly over Matt Turner’s crossbar. Time and time again, our penetrating passes through the Forest defence found our players, but with no end product, sadly. Ten minutes or so before the break, Gabriel Jesus had a great chance to score from just inside the Forest penalty area, but there were so many Forest defenders in the way of his shot, it was never going to find its way through to the goal. Danilo picked the ball up in midfield and advanced and took a shot just outside the penalty area which went harmlessly over David Raya’s goal, but it was a lesson for us not to be too complacent, otherwise we could get punished. Bukayo Saka was unlucky not to score when a loose ball found its way to him just outside the six-yard box, but it bobbled away just past Matt Turner’s goal. Despite yet more pressure in the three minutes of injury time, we were still unable to get the ball into the Forest net. So utterly frustrating.
Hopefully, Mikel Arteta’s words of encouragement at half time will have helped somewhat, as we started the second half here at the City Ground with much anticipation and expectation. We started in a quick and speedy manner, with crisp passing and purposeful running both on and off the ball. Although the Forest players were starting to make a decent fist of things this half, we were able to grab the ball off them successfully in order to continue our attacks on their goal. After we broke up a decent Forest counter-attack, a superb Bukayo Saka shot was pushed away by Matt Turner, and suddenly the match became an end-to-end affair that was breathtaking for the crowd (and the neutrals) to watch. After some superb build-up play, a Gabriel Jesus shot from close range hit the inside of the post and bounced out into play, and still we kept on coming. The match was stopped by the referee when Bukayo Saka went down to the floor after a clash with Nico Williams, and a couple of minutes later, the same Forest player crossed the ball into our penalty area, only for the imposing figure of Ben White to clear it brilliantly. Suddenly, out of nowhere, from a throw-in out on the left wing, Gabriel Jesus ran with the ball deep into the Forest penalty area, and whacked the ball through Matt Turner’s legs and into the back of the net to open the scoring. At last! The goal gave us the impetus to score yet more, and Bukayo Saka received the ball out on the left, and his snap shot cannoned off a defender for a corner which went nowhere, unfortunately. Kai Havertz replaced Emile Smith-Rowe with twenty minutes of the game remaining, and a couple of minutes later, we grabbed our second goal of the evening when our captain passed the ball to Gabriel Jesus, who in turn quickly slotted it to Bukayo Saka, whose right-footed shot from the right hand side of the penalty area ended up in the centre of the goal. Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli was replaced by Eddie Nketiah and Leandro Trossard after seventy-seven minutes, and shortly after entering the fray, Leandro Trossard hit a beautiful shot from twenty yards that just flew over the bar. Still, we came hunting looking for more goals, with a Bukayo Saka left-footed shot from outside the penalty area which went high and wide to the left of the goal. With two minutes of the game remaining, Forest grabbed a goal through Taiwo Awoniyi after a mix-up in our penalty area, which after a VAR check was awarded to them. During the five minutes injury time, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Martin Ødegaard were replaced by Jakob Kiwior and Jorginho; our hearts were in our mouths when VAR checked for a possible Forest penalty which in the end was denied (thankfully), and after Eddie Nketiah was flattened just outside the Forest penalty area, we were awarded a free kick that was cleared by their defence, and despite one or two hair-raising moments, we ran out winners by the odd goal in three.
Well, with seventy-five per cent possession and nineteen shots on goal (three on target), our overall domination was there for all to see. Overall, it was a good night’s work; we showed a lot of patience and clever build-up play, and although the first half was incredibly frustrating for everyone, it was felt that it was surely a matter of time before we scored, although it has to be said that the home side did not give up, and caused us some serious problems at times. All of our forwards played well tonight, as did David Raya too. Ben White was superb at the back, and our captain was inspirational as always, of course. All eyes on the Liverpool game on Sunday afternoon, then! Well done, chaps.
Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: Liverpool at the Emirates on Sunday, 4th February at 4.30pm (Premier League). Be there, if you can. Victoria Concordia Crescit.
Steve
Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 
1st half
Total domination. 53% of game played in their final third. Possession passes no threat. Usual dire Arteta ball
2nd half
Less dominant as Forest opened up more which created more space helping our limited inventiveness.
Much better will be needed against Liverpool.
Thinking game won we slacked off and horrendous defending lead to their goal as last 10 played out under unnecessary pressure
Saka goal was not centre of goal but went in near the far post
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