Review Arsenal-Nottingham Forest : EPL 2022
The coach wanted a reset after the reality check at PSV. He got it and how.!!
A win was needed by Arsenal to go back to the top of the table. A toothless display at PSV earlier in the week did not help. Experts and the not -so- experts were already moaning about lack of depth, fatigue and need for more transfers.
Nottingham Forest wanted to start believing that the money they splurged after entering the elite division , would start paying off. More than that they probably wanted to start something on the field to take them off the bottom of the barrel.
Barely 4 minutes into the game, Gabriel Martinelli , a terror these days for the opposing right backs drove into the box and crossed along the line to Saka. Never stopping his run, he threaded through 5 Nottingham players and met the return from Saka with a stooping header past a flailing Henderson. The Gunners had the start, they wanted, and their fans were used to this season.
Arsenal kept pushing. Forest who began with a 4–3–3 on paper were now pulling bodies back with the overloads created on both flanks by Saka and Martinelli. It was already looking dismal for them. Saka , took a few knocks and Arteta was forced into a early substitution as Saka limped off, leaving Arsenal and English football fans worried about his injury.
Reiss Nelson, playing for Arsenal , after what seemed an eternity came in. He immediately slotted himself into a much narrower line compared to the wide lines Saka was operating. Forest had another positional change to deal with.
Jesus , facing a goal drought was busy, Tomiyasu seemed to be a second winger, Xhaka was getting behind the Forest lines with ease. Arsenal were all over the place. Deft passes, threaded balls and switching of flanks by the Gunners had Forest under pressure. It was probably more luck than defending that kept the half time score to 1–0.
Arsenal press the pedal
The promise of the Liverpool success never came. In the second half Nottingham just caved in. Arsenal constantly hovered around the box. Partey stationed just half way into the Forest half, was pulling the strings. His ability to control the game and the movement of the ball across the pitch was exceptional. One could see, why he was counted among the best in Europe when he was poached by Arsenal.
Nelson made up for his long term absence. In the space of 8 minutes , Arsenal had scored three, two from Nelson. One of them from a thump in from a goalkeeper rebound and the other with a sublime nudge to a ball wobbling into the crowd in the box.
Partey was rewarded for his persistence and in a goal that looked a copy of the one against Tottenham, he curled in a ball from just outside the box. The ball seemingly headed for the stands behind the goal, suddenly seemed to change its mind and with a wicked curl found a new destination. Forest were in disarray, now it was about limiting the damage.
Odegaard , twisted and turned in the box and with three Forest defenders , more watching than intervening, he found the space, and the ball the top corner. Arsenal had 5 and Arteta had the reset he wanted. Jesus was unlucky, arriving a shade too late on many occasions and should have added a few more. Emirates was bouncing, noisy and singing away as the hopes of title chase this time around remained ignited,
The solid, rounded and impressive style that Arsenal are developing under Arteta was on display. Forest looked out of league on the day. Cooper needs to pull them together. A team that beat Liverpool, with the hard running bunch they are, deserve to get more.
A drop back to the Championship looks a possibility. For someone who roots for the underdog, I hope they find something that pulls them up the table and keeps them in the elite. Given their brave performances of the last few years, they do deserve some more time in the Premier League.
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