Arsenal survived a nervy second half to start the 2023/2024 season with a win in their game against Nottingham Forest this afternoon.
Mikel Arteta’s side is being tipped to finish this term as title challengers again after bolstering their squad with some exciting players in the transfer market.
Their game against Forest gave them a chance to avenge a defeat that ended their title challenge towards the end of last season and they started well.
The Gunners were 2-0 up by the 32nd minute, thanks to goals from Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah.
However, Forest came back from the interval strongly and made Arsenal sweat for the three points.
In the end, the visitors pulled one back, but Arsenal held on to win the match and start the new term with a victory.
Speaking after the game, analyst Sam Blitz said on Sky Sports:
“Overall, victory is what matters on the opening weekend and that is what Mikel Arteta will be focused on.
“Ultimately, have we learned anything more about Arsenal from it? They impressed in the first-half, pinning Forest in and creating two brilliant goals. They always impress.
“But those last ten to 15 minutes or so showed Arsenal’s soft underbelly a little bit. Those two minutes where Forest scored then nearly got an equaliser could have played out very differently…”
Just Arsenal Opinion
The second half of that match was tough for us, but we held on to win, which is yet another show of how far we have come as a club.
The team is now one of the strongest in the league and we expect to continue winning just as we did last season.
Arsenal must learn to kill the game in the first half and sustaine their win to the 115 minute of the game.
For how long will Arsenal be breaking after leading? Arsenal need to have a lion fighting character and play with depth each and every game….Small or big.
Today , for instance Arsenal needed to win by a big margin. I think after this weekend, Arsenal will be number 5 or six in the table.
Arsenal must learn to fight to defend itself.
I watched the game and i was like.. is this is how we will win the league? Very soft game in the 2ndhlf. infact we were lucky to finish the game up winners. Arteta also have to be matured in studying the game. How can you staring at the game that was aheading to a draw and you can not bring on subtitues who can bring a change. If this is how we’re going to play,,, let me just wish our team all the best
Thats why mancity are still title favorites and though Arsenal has squad as valuable as mancity no one is betting for us to win the league. We have a habit of having soft belly and time and again we are doing everything to prove it right.
It seems like a trait we just can’t be rid of. We are commanding games. Dictating play. And then we ease off and relax. They score and we panic and get nervous. When will Arsenal as a team learn to kill games off?
I was not even thinking if we are going to win but with what large margin to be on top of Man City. My team scored to goals and started playing as if they have won the league already. If they think of winning the league winning with many goals is going to count.
I think arteta need to stop complicating lineup leaving out Gabriel Magalhaes and playing Partey out of position is totally wrong Arteta still need some learning to do.
Rotating is a good thing but not that way Tomiyasu, Kiwior, Holding are all present
Forget about the lineup, partey was actually playing from the middle
Inverted RB.
The only downside of this victory is the mere +1GD which might see us below 4th but i think fans are over reacting as i’m confident we will hit the ground running sooner than later, a convincing win at selhurst park next monday will surely boost the hell out of our players hopefully mikel and the boys are aware and really looking forward to this usually dificult and tricky game, now we have to respect palace and start with our best line up and formation (4-2-3-1).
Dominant display TBF just not finishing off chances when needed ,I think we had over 700 passes and forest 140 ,that’s how wide the gap was on the field ,the worry is like so many have commented on is finishing off the game and getting twitchy when the pressure appears .
Now people want us to play all the ball and win all our games with clean sheets. Else, we are soft.
Having seen our game and the Newcastle-Villa game, I’m a little concerned about our perceived progress.
True. It was a masterpiece from Newcastle; a real demonstration. Tonali conducted the midfield really well.
Why did we spend all those funds on Havertz? That’s where our poor performance came from. ESR is on the bench while a guy who has struggled in the PL is on the pitch. Right now he is very nervous because he is struggling to prove everyone wrong.
Why leave even Trossard on the bench to play Havertz?
Use Havertz as a substitute and give him time to integrate gradually. Arteta is in a rush to prove to him employers that it’s money well-spent. and that’s simply not working.
If ESR or Trossard started today, we would have killed the game before halt time.
Errr we DID kill the game by half time….
Arsenal completely dominated and what these analysts are talking about Forest “sweating” Arsenal, what a joke. There was never a moment when Forest made Arsenal “sweat”. The goal on the counterattack was as fierce as it can get but other than that there were no sweating moments whatsoever. It was too easy for Arsenal throughout. And it’s very early into the season and players not being fully fit and ready, playing too aggressively is a recipe for injuries. What I would have loved to see in that game was reverting to the usual formation after the two goals, with Gabriel and Saliba in front of Ramsdale, White at RB, and Partey at DM sooner. Other than that, it was a very boring match to watch as Forest hardly could gain any footing for he most of the match.