Mikel Arteta’s Gunners sealed their first Premier League victory in almost two months following the dismantling of Nottingham Forest today.
The North Londoner’s tackled Forest 3-0 with apparent ease after 90 minutes, it was their latest Premier League win since pulling apart Southampton 3-1 on Saturday October fifth.
After a rapid 15 minutes Bukayo Saka beat three visiting defenders, darting from one end of the box to the other before flying a cracking shot into the top right bins, making it three goals in three games versus the two times European Champions.
It looked as if Saka had already put Arsenal a goal up earlier on from a Martin Odegaard free kick ravishing it in, in front of the goaline, following Jorginho’s header which rattled off of a Forest defender rolling onto the Englishman. It was simply offside and discounted!
Seven minutes into the second half Thomas Partey flew in a masterclass goal of his own from outside the box which curled itself into the left corner convincingly.
In the final minutes of the encounter with Arsenal still keen on extending their lead, promising young super sub Ethan Nwaneri buried in his first Premier League goal and his sides third of the match from close range finding the bottom right corner.
Arsenal arguably looked more like the Arsenal side we have been used to seeing in the past couple of years following their poor run of form before the International Break this month.
The Gunners looked far from the unstable team who handed Chelsea last time out an equaliser in their 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge in the final 20 minutes.
The creative aid and commanding nature of returning Odegaard is certainly paying off for the rest of the side in his second consecutive game since coming back from injury. He’s also snatched an assist in both of his returning matches.
Speaking of his contributions which affected Arsenals momentum today in a positive light, Mikel Arteta said in his press conference following his 250th game in charge.
The Spaniard praised the magic of his skipper, declaring profusely:” Without this kind of player in the team it was always quiet.
“It doesn’t surprise me because I see him every day. When he’s in the team, you can sense something that is different. It’s difficult to put a finger on it. There was something different 48 hours before the game too, we had 19 players training and it was so competitive.”
He further spoke about the rise and progress plan of Nwaneri who wouldn’t have scored his first Arsenal Premier League goal without the help of the gaffer.
Arteta spoke up: ”We are responsible for building his career. We have to do that brick by brick. Now you have to put the cement to make sure the next brick sticks, if we put five or six bricks straight away it won’t work.”
With the creative assistance of Odegaard in midfield, the constant firing threat of Saka and Nwaneri’s recent involvement in the first team paying off, The Gunners have certainly restarted their hunt for the Premier League title, or so it apparently seems.
Can Arsenal carry on winning ways after their emphatic walk in the park over Nottingham Forest?
Liam Harding
ADMIN COMMENT
So here are some simple rules which I must insist commenters follow….
You agree not to give any personal abuse to other Arsenal fans. Everyone is allowed to hold their own opinions even if you disagree with them. It COSTS NOTHING TO BE POLITE TO OTHER ARSENAL FANS.
CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, please contact us through this link…
I thought it was Timber who scored the offside goal, or did I miss one by Saka?
Gaffer makes sense regarding Nwanarei, you sense the plan they have. However, it will require others getting less playing time, meaning Sterling and Jesus being the likely unproductive candidates.
Nwanarei is earning and deserving the increased playing time, exactly what you want to see. Hopefully his sub appearances continue as he impacts the game when he comes on.
Looking more and more likely Jesus is off in the Summer and Sterling returns to Chelsea.
Nwanarei solves our issue of another attacking midfielder, so we can focus on a Striker, B2B midfielder, and maybe another winger.
It’s getting the balance right about Nwaneri, isn’t it. He’s clearly a talented youngster but Arsenal shouldn’t push him too hard. On the other hand more game time is the only way he’ll learn.
I can’t imagine Arsenal would want to retain Sterling but I’m not so sure about Jesus leaving (much as I think he should). He’s shown no indication of wanting to and clearly on his form over the last 18 months there won’t be too many clubs interested, I suspect.
From what I read on Goal,. A Brazilian club claimed to offer 33.5m pound to Arsenal for Jesus but they rejected. Don’t know how far that’s true.
I’m sure it was Sterling who created the goal for Nwaneri as the two substitutes combined expertly.
We’ll see more of Sterling and Nwaneri during the next few fixture pile ups so I’m going to reserve my view on Raheem for a while yet.