Arsenal easily got back to winning ways in the Premier League by brushing aside Nottingham Forest 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium..

Arsenal easily got back to winning ways in the Premier League by brushing aside Nottingham Forest 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium.
Bukayo Saka and Thomas Partey both netted with fantastic strikes on Saturday and Ethan Nwaneri also scored his first top-flight goal as the Gunners ended a damaging four-match winless run in the top-flight in their first game back following the international break as they look to close the gap to early leaders Liverpool following a difficult start in the title race.
Arsenal looked to have taken the lead after just four minutes in gloomy north London when the inspired Martin Odegaard’s free-kick was nodded down and goal-bound by Mikel Merino, with Jurrien Timber quickest to slide home the rebound from point-blank range after Nicolas Dominguez had initially cleared off the line.
However, the offside flag was quickly raised against Merino to cut short Timber’s celebrations at what would have been his maiden Premier League goal and the decision to rule it out stood after a lengthy VAR check.
Lively Arsenal would not be denied their early goal however as they put Forest under significant pressure with brilliant passing and movement and lovely intricate football in tight spaces in and around a crowded penalty area.
The impressive Odegaard was shining on his first Emirates appearance since August following an ankle injury and showed mesmerising footwork and speed of thought to flick through for Saka, who drifted horizontally across the box before smashing an unstoppable effort beyond Matz Sels in the Forest goal.
Arsenal were absolutely dominating possession and Sels made a number of fine stops to deny the likes of the often unplayable Saka, Odegaard and Leandro Trossard, with Forest’s attacking threat limited to set-pieces as Ryan Yates and Dominguez both headed accurate James Ward-Prowse free-kicks over David Raya’s crossbar.
Mikel Arteta replaced the booked Jorginho with Thomas Partey at half-time for Arsenal, while Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo sent on Jota Silva for the injured Anthony Elanga.
It was Arteta’s change that paid off quickly, with Partey having only been on the pitch for all of seven minutes before he received a pass from Saka before curling a sublime strike away from Sels and into the far corner from outside the box.
The icing on the cake for Arsenal came late on when teenage substitute Nwaneri linked up with Raheem Sterling before notching his first Premier League goal, with a consolation strike for Forest by Jota Silva chalked off for offside.
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