Arsenal 3 – 0 Nottingham Forest – Match Report

A wondergoal from Martin Zubimendi was the highlight of our 3-0 win against Nottingham Forest as we made it three wins from our opening four Premier League games.

The Spanish midfielder bagged his first goal in our colours in style when he volleyed home from outside the box on 32 minutes to hand us a lead which was doubled within seconds of the restart when Ebere Eze marked his home debut by assisting another summer arrival in Viktor Gyokeres.

With 11 minutes to play Zubimendi then added our third when he headed in a Leandro Trossard cross to register his first-ever career brace, and return us to winning ways ahead of the return of the Champions League in three days’ time.

Zubimendi’s stunner

Forest arrived at Emirates Stadium having never won at our home, or indeed in N5 since 1989. The arrival of Ange Postecoglou – winless in four games against us – failed to change any of those statistics as we controlled proceedings throughout, and quickly stamped our authority on the game.

After his four-goal haul during the international break for Spain, Mikel Merino had a good chance to get the scoresheet again when a free-kick into the area bounced into his path, but his snapshot flicked off the back of Matz Sels.

But for the third game in a row we had to make an early substitution when Martin Odegaard was forced off in similar circumstances against Leeds United last time in N5, seemingly injuring his shoulder after falling awkwardly during the melee that led to Merino’s chance.

With five summer signings named in our side, it understandably took us a while to find cohesion, but on 32 minutes, one of those made his presence known by scoring his first Gunners goal in style.

After a flurry of corners, Noni Madueke whipped one into the area which was headed out by Chris Wood, but only to Zubimendi who struck it sweetly on the volley. The Spaniard watched it flash through the bodies and swerve past a stunned Sels to send Emirates Stadium into delirium.

Moments later Zubimendi tried the same thing again from the same spot when he again was left in a pocket of space but watched it flash over the crossbar as he came close to an incredible second.

45 into second 45

Postecoglou’s side had failed to attempt a shot by the time the fourth official put his board up to indicate seven minutes of first-half stoppage time, but at that moment, Morgan Gibbs-White played a one-two with Wood inside the box but some good work by Jurrien Timber put the England man off his stride as he fired wide from close range.

There was still time for Gyokeres to stab wide after some electric wing play from Eze, but just 45 seconds into the second half, the duo linked up to devastating effect for the first time.

A long ball over the top from Riccardo Calafiori caused some hesitation for substitute Nicola Savona and Eze pounced on it to nip in behind the full-back and centre for Gyokeres to tap home his third Gunners goal and hand us the healthy lead our dominance deserved.

It nearly went up in smoke five minutes later when a cross from Dan Ndoye flicked off Wood’s chest and spun goalwards, but on his 100th Arsenal appearance, David Raya managed to get fingertips to it and flick it onto his crossbar. But as we struggled to clear the ball, it took an outstanding sliding challenge by Christian Mosquera to prevent Callum Hudson-Odoi from tucking in the rebound.

Zubi does it again

The woodwork was left shaking at the other end when Gyokeres nearly ripped the goalframe from the turf with a fierce blast after neat link-up play between him, Eze and Madueke. The trio were withdrawn, having shown some promising signs that they could be a trio to be feared by our rivals this term, and excitingly leaving our supporters hungry to see them in action again.

Despite rejigging our attack, we weren’t in any mood to stop scoring and a third arrived on 79 minutes – and once again it was Zubimendi who popped up with it.

Minutes after replacing Madueke, Leandro Trossard clipped a dangerous cross into the box towards Merino, but instead it was his fellow countryman and one of the smallest players on the pitch who nipped in and perfectly headed into the top corner to put the result beyond doubt.

All that was left then was to ensure that Raya’s centenary ended with a clean sheet, and he comfortably racked up number 42 of his Gunners career, 14 more than any other Premier League goalkeeper since his debut in September 2023.

Facts and Stats

We have lost just one of our last 10 Premier League matches against Nottingham Forest (W8 D1), avoiding defeat in each of the last five since a 1-0 loss in May 2023. Additionally, we are unbeaten in all nine home games in the competition against Forest (W7 D2).

We have won three successive home games in the Premier League without conceding for the first time since a run of four between November – December 2021.

Viktor Gyokeres is just our third player to score in both of his first two Premier League home games, after Marouane Chamakh (September 2010) and Alexandre Lacazette (December 2017).

Eberechi Eze is the first English player to score or assist on his first Premier League start for us since Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain against Manchester United in January 2012.

Leandro Trossard recorded his 50th goal contribution for us (28 goals, 22 assists). Only Bukayo Saka has been directly involved in more goals for us since Trossard’s debut in January 2023 (72).

Martin Zubimendi scored his first brace in his top-flight career on what was his 240th appearance (Arsenal/Real Sociedad), while his opener was his very first strike from outside the box.

What’s next

The Champions League returns on Tuesday night when we head to Spain to face Athletic Club, before we’re back at Emirates Stadium on Sunday, September 21 for the visit of Manchester City. Then we switch gears once again on Wednesday, September 24 when we travel to League One side Port Vale in the third round of the Carabao Cup.