Arsenal hammered Nottingham Forest 3-0 at the Emirates in Ange Postecoglou’s first match in charge of his new club. That lopsided scoreline flatters the visitors — it easily could have been 4 or 5 for the Gunners. Other than Martin Ødegaard landing hard on his already tender shoulder and being forced off, there’s absolutely nothing to complain about on Arsenal’s side of the ledger. Cristhian Mosquera, Jurrien Timber, Noni Madueke, and Martin Zubimendi were all outstanding. Ebere Eze and Viktor Gyokeres
linked up for the second goal. A dominant performance from Mikel Arteta’s side.
It’s endlessly annoying that Ødegaard landed hard and awkwardly on the same shoulder he hurt against Leeds United. Arsenal’s bad luck injury luck continues, as does the skipper’s. Ethan Nwaneri was quite good in relief, however. The Gunners also brought Declan Rice, Gabriel Martinelli, and Leandro Trossard off the bench, with Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz out injured. Think about that for a second. The Gunners have incredible depth of talent right now, a complete 180 from last season’s threadbare cupboard.
You cannot say enough good things about the individual performances. Noni Madueke was an absolute menace, repeatedly beating his fullback, getting around the corner, and creating danger and chaos. Cristhian Mosquera showed composure, defensive chops, and on-ball skill that defies his 21-year-old in his first Premier League start reality. Martin Zubimendi scored a brace, the first of his career, including his first goal from outside the box scored with a homing-missile volley. Substitute Leandro Trossard, with his first touch of the match, put the ball on a silver platter for Zubi’s second. Ebere Eze, on the dead run, timed his volley-pass perfectly to play a flat ball across the face for Viktor Gyokeres, who had busted a lung to attack the six-yard box and be in position to score — shout out to Riccardo Calafiori for the beautiful long ball to put Eze in.
Everybody pulled their weight and then some. Arsenal held Nottingham Forest to 0.2 xG from five shot attempts, one on target. The only nervy moment came when a ball laced into Chris Wood took a weird, goalward deflection off his chest, but David Raya tipped it onto the bar. Then Jurrien Timber then made a bad mistake that nearly gave away a goal, but Mosquera was there to clean it up. That was it for threat at the Arsenal goal. The Gunners are the best defensive team in Europe.
A few more odds and ends:
- David Raya marked his 100th appearance for Arsenal with his 42nd clean sheet. Only Peter Cech has managed more in his first 100 starts (43).
- Since his Arsenal debut, Raya has 14 more clean sheets in all competitions than any other Premier League goalkeeper, which isn’t the fairest comparison because he’s played loads more games than the non-European keepers, but still.
- Leandro Trossard’s assist was his 50th goal involvement for the club. Only Bukayo Saka (72) has more since the Belgian joined.
- Martin Zubimendi became the 544th player to score a competitive first team goal for the club and 151st player to score in the Premier League for Arsenal.
- Arsenal have won three Premier League games in a row at home for the first time in more than a year.
- The Gunners have faced Nottingham Forest at the Emirates five times and won all five, scoring 18 and conceding just 1. They’re unbeaten against Forest in 15-straight in all competitions.
Arsenal are next in action on Tuesday at Athletic Club in the Champions League before hosting Manchester City at the Emirates next weekend.
