Arsenal’s 2-1 victory at Nottingham Forest put them two points behind Liverpool at the top of the Premier League.
Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka’s goals in the second half gave the Gunners a well-earned two-goal advantage. But even though Mikel Arteta’s team dominated at the City Ground, with 74% of the possession and 19 shots, Forest forced a nerve-wracking end when Taiwo Awoniyi, a substitute, pulled one back in the 89th minute.
However, Arsenal managed to secure back-to-back victories and climb to second place, trailing only leaders Liverpool, who visit Chelsea on Wednesday.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s team is currently only two points above the drop zone, which has increased Forest’s fears of being relegated.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said after the game:
“I could feel it, they were talking about it [defeat at Forest last season] coming to that dressing room. It really reminds you, our brains and bodies are really intelligent and coming to the same situation they know what happened and they were really active and engaged and they were talking about the game with each other.
“I thought it was really good. I am really happy with the performance and the result. We saw what happened last year and we wanted to put it right, we wanted to generate some momentum in the league and I thought we did that.
“The performance was very good, we completely dominated the game. We had to be patient but we always had an eye to the opponent, we didn’t allow them to run.”
Meanwhile his counterpart, Nuno Espírito Santo said:
“First half, we defended well. We were organised, compact and didn’t allow too many situations. Arsenal are a very good team in possession of the ball. We had to be patient and cover the right spaces in the wide areas.
“We were missing more possession of the ball. We should have had more possession; that was a negative. We were better in that aspect in the second half.
“We started the second half well and had good spells of possession. It was disappointing the way we conceded both goals. It was avoidable. We can avoid those situations.
“After we scored, there was a feeling we could have got something. We had a good 10-minute spell. But to sum up, we should have played better.”
Arsenal have a crucial game against league leaders Liverpool next on Sunday, meanwhile Forest also play on Sunday when they travel to Bournemouth.
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