Arsenal avoided a third straight draw at the City Ground by grinding out a 1-0 win over a depleted Nottingham Forest side, with Noni Madueke’s deflected effort proving the difference.

The game was short on fluency for long spells. Forest threatened on the break whenever Arsenal lost rhythm in possession, and after a brighter start to the second half, the hosts looked the more likely to find a breakthrough. Yet Mikel Arteta’s team stayed intact, and they found the one moment that mattered with 10 minutes left.

Madueke drove in from the left and sent a shot goalward that took a double deflection off Forest defenders before beating Matz Sels, who had been largely untroubled before that point. Forest still created enough late pressure to leave Arsenal uneasy, but Liam Delap and Chris Wood were both denied by excellent recovery defending as the visitors protected their lead.

The result lifted the champions back above Brighton & Hove Albion and into second place, three points behind Manchester City at the top.

Arsenal’s first-half issues were once again obvious. Their possession brought little reward, and Forest’s 5-4-1 block made life difficult for Arsenal’s attacking players. Excluding the Carabao Cup third-round win at Ipswich Town, they have now failed to score before half-time in each of their previous six matches.

That sluggish opening has become a recurring pattern this season, and it continues to raise questions about the attack. Arsenal remain difficult to beat and strong without the ball, but they are still relying on short bursts rather than sustained control in the final third.

Madueke’s winner ensured the point was theirs, but the broader picture remains that Arsenal continue to work hard to mask their summer oversight of not signing another left winger. If they are to achieve all they want this season, the need for a winter addition in attack is becoming clearer.

Arsenal’s first defeat of the season brought a bleak assessment from inside the dressing room after Saturday’s 3-0 loss to Brighton & Hove Albion. Bruno Guimarães said the reaction among the players was immediate, with the standard of the performance falling well below what was expected.

“In the first throw, you could sense it, it was so clear,” Arteta lamented, whispering through his postmatch press conference with a thinly veiled sense of fury. The mood was not much brighter in the locker room around the corner.

Guimarães described the match as one to move past, but not before stressing how badly Arsenal had fallen short. “I think today is a day to forget,” he said after his first Premier League start for the club. “Everything we tried didn’t work. Credit to them [Brighton] as well but we can’t accept this here.

“I think in the changing room, everyone was complaining about ourselves, about the level we played today. Like I said, it’s not acceptable. A very bad day in the office.”

Arteta viewed the defeat as a failure to meet the demands of the game. Brighton’s pressing and direct play repeatedly forced Arsenal into errors, and the Arsenal manager said his side had not matched the basics required in the Premier League.

“Brighton were another gear up from us,” Arteta fumed. “We were extremely poor technically and not respecting the game. And from our side there were certain basics that you need to accomplish in football, especially in the Premier League, that we were very far from.”

He added: “In the first duel, the second ball, that put the game, especially how direct they were, in a really difficult place for us,” Arteta added. “On top of that, when we did regain the ball, especially in our own half, the amount of technical errors that we did and we didn’t respect any principle of play that you have to get out of those man-to-man situations.”

Guimarães was among the most disappointing performers in red, especially given the expectations behind his summer move. Recognising his part in the collapse, he then issued a message of apology to the Arsenal fanbase and promised better days ahead.

Arsenal’s flawless opening to the 2026/27 campaign was brought to a sharp halt as Brighton & Hove Albion ran out 3-0 winners in the Premier League. What had been a controlled start to the season quickly unravelled, with Arsenal producing a passive first-half showing and then finding no route back after the interval.

Brighton set the tone early, pressing with intensity and punishing Arsenal’s slow reactions in defensive areas. The hosts’ first two goals followed a strikingly similar pattern, with Groß and Kostoulas both given the space to shoot from around 20 yards. Arsenal were slow to close down the ball, and Gabriel was singled out for failing to step out quickly enough, although the problems stretched across the team.

After the break, Arsenal were expected to respond, but the pattern barely changed. Brighton continued to control the contest, and Chema Andrés ended any lingering hope with a header that made the lead unassailable. Arsenal’s best chance to reduce the deficit fell to Kai Havertz, but he failed to take it.

The performance was especially surprising given how strong Arsenal’s defence had looked in the opening four league matches. Before this trip, Morgan Rogers had been the only player to score against David Raya, and Arsenal had conceded just 2.7 expected goals. At Brighton, though, the back line looked unusually sluggish, while the attack offered very little in return.

Mikel Arteta’s side never recovered their composure, and the closing stages brought little more than frustration for the travelling support. Arsenal were poor in possession, blunt in the final third and repeatedly beaten in defensive zones. It was not a collapse that should define their season, but it did end the sense of invulnerability that had built around them in recent weeks.