Title chase, take two: Beauties from Saka and Nketiah enough for three points

When the Premier League fixtures were announced back in June, one of the happiest people around must have been Mikel Arteta. Arsenal’s coach got Nottingham Forest in the first round, a team which not only lost 5-0 (twice) at the Emirates Stadium last season but also won only 8 points in all away games. And today, the tradition continued, but it wasn’t as near as comfortable as last season: Arsenal – Nottingham Forest 2-1. When Awoniyi scored in the 81st minute, the fans at the full Emirates stadium were not comfortable anymore, and when the referee added 7 minutes of added time, tension could be felt in the air. But Nottingham showed nothing in the added time, and the score remained the same.

In fact, the Trick Trees showed nothing during those 90 minutes, and if the home team had just pushed a bit more in the second half, they would finish the game with a comfortable 3-0 score. Instead, they scored two goals in the space of six minutes but then just stopped and waited patiently for Nottingham Forrest to ’open’ in order to score that third goal, but received one instead. The absence of injured Gabriel Jesus was not felt since Eddie Nketiah scored a beautiful opener and played well overall, while the most expensive signing, Declan Rice, had two good chances to score on his debut but missed them all.

Coach Arteta started the game in his favourite 4-3-3 formation, with Thomas Partey starting as a right back. But after the first 20 minutes, it was clear that Ghana's midfielder was not gonna be patrolling the right side too much. The Gunners played basically a 3-3-3-1 formation, with Partey spending the majority of the time in central midfield rather than right-back. Odegaard was behind Nketiah, providing the additional firepower up front. And it took the Gunners some time to score since the guests were strong in defence. In fact, Nottingham could have scored after an accident chance, in which Brennan Jonhson faced Ramsdale one on one, but he was too surprised and missed the entire goal. But Arsenal didn’t miss their first shot on target. Martinelli broke from the left flank and fed Nketiah, who opened the scoring in the 26th minute. Six minutes later, Saka scored a stunner from the edge of the penalty area to make it 2-0, which was enough for the first half.

Getting the job nice and early to get the job nice and late

Coach Arteta started the game in his favourite 4-3-3 formation, with Thomas Partey starting as a right back. But after the first 20 minutes, it was clear that Ghana's midfielder was not gonna be patrolling the right side too much. The Gunners played basically a 3-3-3-1 formation, with Partey spending the majority of the time in central midfield rather than right-back. Odegaard was behind Nketiah, providing the additional firepower up front. And it took the Gunners some time to score since the guests were strong in defence. In fact, Nottingham could have scored after an accident chance, in which Brennan Jonhson faced Ramsdale one on one, but he was too surprised and missed the entire goal. But Arsenal didn’t miss their first shot on target. Martinelli broke from the left flank and fed Nketiah, who opened the scoring in the 26th minute. Six minutes later, Saka scored a stunner from the edge of the penalty area to make it 2-0, which was enough for the first half.

The Gunners played much more calmly in the second half. They had the score, so it was simply the waiting game. They assumed that Forest would ’open’ at some point and leave some gaps for Arsenal to attack, but that didn’t happen. So in the 82nd minute, former Liverpool striker Taiwo Awoniyi sneaked one past Aaron Ramsdale and all of a sudden, it was a bit uncomfortable for the Gunners. But it was all from Nottingham today, and they travelled back home without any points, and deservedly so.

PREMIER LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 1

Friday

Burnley - Manchester City 0-3 (0-2)

/Haaland 4, 36, Rodri 76/

Saturday

Arsenal - Nott.Forest 2-1 (2-0)

/Nketiah 26, Saka 32 - Awoniyi 82/

17:00: (2.35) Everton (3.40) Fulham (3.00)

17:00: (1.38) Brighton (4.80) Luton (8.50)

17:00: (3.00) Sheffield Utd (3.15) Crystal Palace (2.50)

17:00: (2.75) Bournemouth (3.20) West Ham (2.65)

19:30: (1.80) Newcastle (3.60) Aston Villa (4.60)

Sunday

16:00: (2.80) Brentford (3.40) Tottenham (2.50)

18:30: (2.80) Chelsea (3.40) Liverpool (2.50)

Monday

22:00: (1.37) Man.Utd. (4.90) Wolverhampton (8.50)

***odds are subject to change***