Saka stunner seals Arsenal victory despite late Nottingham Forest rally
Even if one of Arsenal’s revamped systems ran aground, the one everybody had come to see turned out to be in decent working order. If this season is to be an enervating exercise in keeping pace with Manchester City then they got the first part more or less right, beating Nottingham Forest while playing enough of the hits to suggest their star turns are back with renewed appetite.
Bukayo Saka is certainly ready to improve on last term’s showing judging by the exquisite finish that put a rejigged Arsenal two up and, coming shortly after Eddie Nketiah’s opener, ultimately won them the game. He looked tired towards the end of 2022-23 but this was some way to turn over a new leaf, shrugging off Orel Mangala to bend a vicious 22-yard finish around Matt Turner and in. William Saliba helped create the chance by winning possession in Forest’s left-back position and the one sour note for Mikel Arteta will be that Arsenal failed to maintain that level of intensity in the second period, Taiwo Awoniyi scoring from nowhere and subjecting them to a tense finale.
At least Arteta’s players displayed better functionality than the club’s new e-ticketing arrangement, which crashed in the buildup and left the majority of those in attendance crowded outside the turnstile as kick-off approached. It meant a half-hour delay and an extra warm-up period for the teams while the swathes of empty red seats gradually filled.
The vast majority of fans had taken their positions by kick-off but any stragglers would, at least from a home perspective, have missed little in the first 25 minutes. Their side dominated possession and territory, to nobody’s surprise, but should have gone behind after the kind of defensive lapse that marred their run-in last season. A simple header forward escaped Saliba and meant Brennan Johnson, running clear, should have tested Aaron Ramsdale at the barest minimum. Johnson missed his chance, sidefooting high and wide, and it felt like the kind of opening Forest could ill afford to spurn.
Arteta had opted to rest Gabriel Magalhães, moving Ben White to centre-back and pulling the rest of his starting XI around as a consequence. Thomas Partey was deployed as a right-back given to infield incursions, Kai Havertz tasked with an attacking midfield berth and Nketiah invited to lead the line. Until Nketiah found his range their work had been earnest but a little disjointed with Turner, who had swapped sides only three days previously without playing a top-flight game for Arsenal, untested in the Forest goal.
Weakness with the ball at his feet was one of Arsenal’s major reservations about Turner, who upheld that impression with an attempted clearance that cannoned into Nketiah and away. He was helpless when his colleague took aim in a more orthodox situation, though. Gabriel Martinelli was the goal’s architect with a sublime piece of play, taking out Serge Aurier and Danilo with an elaborate spin and backheel on the left of the area. The latter movement located Nketiah, who had space to drill past Turner via a sizable snick off Joe Worrall.
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Now Arsenal looked too fast, too crisp and too confident. Saka’s ripping finish doubled the lead six minutes later and seemed to end the contest, the sense remaining that the hosts had something in reserve. On another rare Forest foray Aurier incurred Morgan Gibbs-White’s wrath by spooning a pointless centre into Ramsdale’s arms when his teammate was free, but it was as alarming as things got before half-time. Declan Rice saw plenty of possession on his first competitive start as Arsenal worked the ball smartly without especially threatening to extend their lead.
What seemed likely to be a second-half stroll in the sun was slightly clouded for Arsenal five minutes after the interval when Jurrien Timber, another hitherto impressive newcomer at left-back, pulled up and was swiftly replaced by Takehiro Tomiyasu. The concern for Arteta was that, from there, proceedings took on a pre-season hue until the substitute Awoniyi gave them an edge few could have foreseen. Rice smiled ruefully as Turner tipped a deflected shot on to the post and then parried a curious, bobbled effort. At the time, it seemed to matter little that Arsenal had not turned the screw.
Then Anthony Elanga, freshly introduced, carried the ball 60 yards down the left flank at speed and flashed across a low centre that Awoniyi converted emphatically. The goal had hardly been signposted and the Emirates, in a lull since the break, woke up. The home faithful were almost aghast when Gibbs-White blasted over but, while Steve Cooper threw on the cavalry for seven minutes of added time, they could belatedly depart feeling relief.