Arsenal’s Jesus and Saka end Arteta’s unhappy run at Nottingham Forest

Mikel Arteta could feel his nightmares at the City Ground float away. He had been to this ground twice previously as the Arsenal manager, losing on both occasions and with degrees of ignominy. There was the FA Cup exit in 2022, after which he ranted in the dressing room about the attitude of his players. Then the Premier League defeat at the end of last season, which ended his team’s title challenge.

Arteta needed something to keep the spark about Arsenal’s challenge for the trophy he so covets. For the opening 45 minutes, when his players passed and passed but seemed curiously reluctant to shoot, it was possible to fear that more frustration could be incoming.

Arsenal would tear the notion apart, landing quickfire blows after the hour that would prove enough – despite Nuno Espírito Santo’s Nottingham Forest fighting until the last. Nuno has taken the scalps of Newcastle and Manchester United so far in his brief tenure. Arsenal were a step too far.

The opening goal would go down as Arsenal’s 14th from a set piece in the top flight this season, Oleksandr Zinchenko’s throw-in finding Gabriel Jesus in space but, really, it will be remembered as a horror show for the Forest goalkeeper, Matt Turner – formerly of Arsenal.

Jesus knew that the angle was unfavourable when he shot, close to the byline, but the ball fizzed through Turner’s legs, brushing in off the inside of one of them. Jesus would turn creator for the second, playing in Bukayo Saka for a clinical finish after Gonzalo Montiel had invited a quick transition with a sloppy pass and that appeared to be that.

It was, although Forest made it extremely nervy in the closing stages. Nuno had introduced Taiwo Awoniyi at half-time for the striker’s first football since mid-November and he pulled one back in the 89th minute after Montiel had headed square; Awoniyi pulled a move on William Saliba before finishing.

If Awoniyi had not been denied in added time by David Raya, the ball breaking for him to volley after a corner had been returned to the Arsenal area, Arteta would have got a very familiar feeling. As it was, his “bad experiences” at this stadium, as he had called them on Monday, would not continue.

The requirement for Arsenal was to impose themselves, to show their personality. It always felt as though Nuno would invite them to make the game. The question was clear: could Arsenal ally cutting edge to their possession? They would get there in the end.

Forest are fighting more than what is in front of them on the pitch at the moment. It appears as though a points deduction before the end of the season for financial irregularities is inevitable; everyone at the club seems to be expecting it. What they can control is their fight once the whistle blows.

Forest were happy for Arsenal to play in front of them, even to seek low passes up the channels. What they knew they had to do was defend their box, to mass men around any visiting players who got that far. Not many did in the first half, Forest’s hard work making it difficult for Arsenal.

There was a moment midway through the period when a high ball dropped for Arteta in his technical area and he killed it with a Cruyff-turn piece of control. It was tempting to wonder whether he might be better served on the field because his players were struggling; too slow with their moves, too predictable with their patterns.

Forest offered little as an attacking force before the interval, save for a Chris Wood shot that was blocked by Zinchenko after a Morgan Gibbs-White burst, and a rising Danilo drive that rose too much.

Arsenal dominated in territorial terms but first-half chances were in short supply for them. The moment that quickened the pulse came in the 44th minute when Zinchenko drove in a low ball and, after Murillo could not clear, Emile Smith Rowe – starting only his second league game all season – prodded to Saka. His shot was blocked by Murillo, who recovered well.

Nuno’s idea in the second half was for Awoniyi to link up with Gibbs-White, who looked good when he drove in possession. But it was Arsenal who brought the urgency. Saka worked Turner and Jesus advertised the breakthrough, striking the post after a lovely team move involving Saka and Martin Ødegaard. Arsenal would make their superiority count.

Arsenal’s bad run here had actually gone back further than the results on Arteta’s watch. It was a three-game losing streak for the club at kick-off, which also took in the FA Cup defeat under Arsène Wenger in 2018. Arsenal have banished the demons.