London, OCT 31
Arsenal hit five goals without reply in their most emphatic win of the season against Nottingham Forest to restore their position at the top of the Premier League. Two of those goals were scored by Reiss Nelson who came on as substitute after the 27th minute injury to Bukayo Saka.
Gunners manager, Mikel Arteta said: “We have been creating a lot without hitting the target enough in recent games so it was great to see us scoring so many. Today, the individual talent made the difference and it’s really important we shared some fantastic goals around the team.”
He added: “Big teams respond as quickly as possible and that’s what we’ve done after our disappointment in the Europa League on Thursday.”
Arteta praised Nelson’s performance: “Not only me but all his team-mates, all the staff are so happy for him because he is a kid that is really changing, evolving, and maturing. He’s showing every day how much he wants it. He had the opportunity and he did extremely well.”
Arsenal dominated from the start and went ahead with a fifth minute goal. Gabriel Martinelli passed to Saka on the right and then he darted into the box to meet Saka’s cross and stooped to head into the net.
The Gunners continued to control the game even after Saka’s injury in a nasty tackle from Renan Lodi which could have brought him a yellow card. Granit Xhaka was brilliant in midfield and William Saliba patrolled the defence.
But they could not make use of the chances to score and Gabriel Jesus missed a fine chance for a second goal when his curling shot went just wide and in the 36th minute he shot over the bar after a pass from Xhaka. Earlier Forest too missed a chance when Jesse Lingard broke through in the 32nd minute but his shot went wide.
It wasn’t until the second half that Arsenal’s goals came in quick succession. They scored four within half an hour. Thomas Partey’s pass split the Forest defence in the 49th minute and after quick passing between Xhaka and Jesus, Nelson’s shot was parried by the goalkeeper but he followed up on the rebound to drive it home. Within three minutes Nelson found the net again, steering in a low centre by Jesus.
The fourth goal was a thumping drive from 20 yards by Partey after receiving a pass from Nelson in the 57th minute and finally, 19 minutes later Odegaard hit the fifth after Partey and Jesus combined for a pass to the Arsenal captain to complete a superb win.
Forest manager, Steve Cooper said: “We fell way short in terms of competing. It was always going to be a tough game but in competitive sport the bare minimum you have to do is stand up and be counted, fight and be hard to beat. We just didn’t do that and it’s frustrating, It ended up as painful viewing and painful for the players to play in.”
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