Arsenal turn it on in goalfest v Forest

Arsenal 5 Nottingham Forest 0 
Premier League 
Sunday 30th October 2022 2pm   

Another Sunday 2pm kick off after Southampton away the previous weekend, but a far better result for Arsenal, in a game they needed to regain momentum from after a couple of below par performances in the last seven days. 

And what a contrast it was. In fairness, remarkable as Forest’s victory at home to Liverpool was in the game before, they failed to win in the nine league matches that preceded it. They were rooted to the bottom of the table before this match, and Arsenal probably couldn’t have asked for better opposition with their need to get back on track and retain top place after Manchester City’s win on Saturday. 

They didn’t take long to establish superiority, but the nature of the goal was a surprise, as Martinelli made a run to the near post to head in a cross from Saka. He tends to hang back on the far side of the goal rather than make runs toward the other side, but this was a far more aggressive, centre-forward style run from the young Brazilian. 

Arsenal largely controlled the game for the remainder of the half without increasing their lead and even allowed Forest a couple of chances through sloppy passing, but the display after the interval was like chalk and cheese compared with St Mary’s. By this time, Reiss Nelson had come on for Saka, who was carrying an injury for a while before being removed in the 27th minute. 

I’ve not seen much from Nelson to convince me he has a long-term future at the club, but he took his opportunity yesterday, scoring twice in the opening minutes of the second half. He also teed up Partey for the fourth goal, which was very reminiscent of his strike against Spurs. The game was so comfortable at this point that Mikel Arteta was even prepared to give the hapless Cedric some game time. Odegaard wrapped things up with a nice piece of control to make room for a fifth goal, rifling his strike into the roof of the net, and the Gunners even managed to keep a rare home Premier League clean sheet. 

The heavens opened as the game neared its conclusion, but the table looks like a ray of sunshine again after Manchester City briefly removed Arsenal from top spot. A word for Gabriel Jesus – who might not have scored (in spite of coming close a few times), but played a key part in three of the goals and whose all round game was outstanding. I was amazed to read on Twitter one view that he was off the pace. He is such an intelligent striker, with a mix of aggression, determination and work rate. Probably the club’s most complete striker since Robin Van Persie departed a decade ago. The goals are being spread around the team, indicative of the number of options going forward, and the unpredictability of how attacks are built. This is a consequence of movement off the ball, and understanding between the players in a relatively settled side. This explains the drop off in Eindhoven, when players such as Nketiah and Lokonga don’t play in quite the same fashion as those they come in for. 

So the squad may still need improvement, but the first team feels right now like they are a match for pretty much anyone. The defence isn’t watertight, but that’s a consequence of Artetaball, where risks to retain possession are policy, and something we are simply going to have to get used to. We await news on Saka’s injury – for the lad’s own sake I hope he isn’t denied a trip to the World Cup finals.

Four more games before everyone breaks for Qatar, two of them in the League. Yesterday’s win, although expected, was crucial to get things going back in the right direction. It’s been a wonderful start to the season. 31 points from 36 is the stuff of dreams. Yes, key players have to remain fit, and a couple of astute purchases in January could prove vital. But football moves in cycles. It feels like a long time since the team have been genuinely competitive, especially in terms of belief, so we await to see if the good times turn out to be more than a flash in the pan. It does feel like a more solid foundation is being laid. The matches away to Chelsea and Wolves will be very interesting.

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