Morning all.
Was that good? Yes, I think so. Could we have move the ball forwards a bit quicker in the first half? Yes.
Let’s not underplay our 3-0 victory over Forest though because they showed last season just how good a team they are and this summer they strengthened an already good squad. They also have one of last seasons best goalkeepers in the league in Matz Sels.
Arsenal went into the game without Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, William Saliba and Gabriel Jesus.
Our bench consisted of: Kepa, Ben White, Piero Hincapie, Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard, Ethan Nwaneri, Declan Rice, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Max Dowman.
Merino came very close to giving us the lead but Sels was too good. Soon after, Odegaard landed heavy on his shoulder again and just like the last time, off he went with Nwaneri coming on in his place. I thought we improved with the Englishman’s introduction.
Madueke was causing all sorts of problems down our right hand side and after forcing a number of corners, which he took, one was headed clear by Forest, but only as far as Zubimendi just outside the Forest box. The Spaniard watched the ball as it dropped before he hit it into the roof of the net. A stunning strike. He nearly did it again but his strike travelled just over the bar.
No sooner had the second half started, Gyokeres doubled our lead. Eze took control of a long ball played out from Calafiori, went past the defender and whipped a ball into our striker. No fuss, no mistake, 2-0 and his 3rd of the season.
Forest came close to halving the scoreline in bizarre circumstances. A cross from Ndoye hit Woods chest at an angle causing the ball to divert towards goal. Raya got his fingertips to the ball, sending it into the woodwork and back out to Hudson-Odoi. Mosquera killed any hope the Forest man had of scoring with a perfectly timed sliding tackle. Brilliant from the young defender. Rice was inches away from tapping home a lovely cross from Timber, Gyokeres nearly grabbed his second in the game with a thunderous strike into the woodwork but instead, it was our midfielder who came up trumps with another goal ten minutes from time. A set-piece, a Trossard cross and there was Zubimendi to rise high and head home.
Had Arsenal scored 5 or 6, Forest could have no complaints because they were totally outplayed. From front to back, Arteta’s team was strong. Disciplined at the back, sometimes playing themselves out of a small hole with wonderful first time passes. Up front, Madueke was an absolute handful. His pace, directness and ability to go past, inside or outside his man with ease was just a joy to watch. His corners were pretty good too. Our two central midfielders were very very good, it was like they’d being playing together for years. lol
Seriously though, I think Arsenal were good and I also think they are only going to get better…
Next up for Mikel Arteta and his team is a trip to Spain for a Champions League match against Athletic Club.
Catch up in the comments.
Morning All You Happy People and Rico – who is always happy…
Very good post, summed up the game and to the point. Sometimes there’s so many positives in a game you can’t cover them all, but here’s one, the timing and tacking of Chris Mosquera, it’s just a short amount of game time to judge but he is quietly developing into the best tackler at the club – the potential is definitely on show. Nobody can quite wrap their leg legally around an opponent and dispossess him quite like Big Chris.
Morning Kev, I like him a lot. Can’t believe his transfer fee considering how good he is.
The challenge on Hudson-Odoi was so good.
Morning Rico, very good summary of yesterday’s game. All five of our new signings were excellent but for me the pick was Mosquera, who at just 21 is a babe in arms for a central defender, but looked as calm under pressure as Saliba. What a steal at £13m! And when you see a fit Declan Rice on the subs’ bench you know we’ve finally got a really deep squad, ready to challenge on all fronts.
Morning Anthony, yep, a real bargain and whoever was behind that deal needs a pat on the back. Madueke is playing really well too. He’s an exciting player to watch.
Good morning Rico and all.
A fine post Rico, thank you. A mention for Nwaneri, thrown on as an early replacement for our injured captain he was calmness personified as he took control as an attacking midfielder. Martin Odegaard can be allowed time to recover fully safe in the knowledge that he has an excellent deputy in Nwaneri.
Morning Rico and all. As much as the players done their job, I reckon some credit should come to Arteta for taking Calafiori off shortly after recieving a yellow card, to prevent a second and giving Forest any hope of a possible come back
Morning Cicero, I’m really not bothered about Odegaard potentially being out for a while because of Nwaneri. I like the fact that Arteta has more faith in him to play centrally and imo, we are less negative when he’s on the pitch.
Morning Geoff. A bit of common sense goes a long way…
41 clean sheets in his first 100 games for Raya is some stat.
3 totally different goals is a big plus to show how we can change our game plan.
I summed everything else on the previous Post