Arsenal restored momentum and composure with a 3-0 home victory over Nottingham Forest, spoiling Ange Postecoglou\u2019s debut as Forest boss.<\/p>\n
A first-half strike from Zubimendi gave Arsenal breathing room before the interval, intricate passing sequences and sustained possession repeatedly opened spaces in Forest\u2019s rearguard. Viktor Gy\u00f6keres swiftly added to the lead after the halftime whistle, with Eberechi Eze supplying the assist for the second following a quick sprint and an accurate first-time cross.<\/p>\n
Zubimendi completed his brace late on with an impressive header. The 26-year-old had scored just twice in 48 appearances for Real Sociedad last season and has already matched that tally this term. Not renowned for his aerial prowess, he leapt well to guide home the third as Forest struggled to fashion counter-attacking opportunities.<\/p>\n
The win offered a clear response after Arsenal\u2019s cautious display and defeat to Liverpool before the September international break. That loss left the Gunners three points adrift of their title rivals, and slipping up at home to Forest was never an option.<\/p>\n
Wide players who have arrived in the summer took on greater responsibility in the absence of Bukayo Saka. Noni Madueke repeatedly tested Morato, the Brazilian central defender selected at left back, cutting inside on his preferred left foot and using the touchline effectively. Eze, deployed in a wider role than at Crystal Palace, was a constant livewire, showing confidence on his first start for his new club and executing the decisive delivery for Gy\u00f6keres\u2019 goal.<\/p>\n
Injuries continue to be a theme for Arsenal. The squad began the match without Saka, William Saliba, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus and Christian N\u00f8rgaard. Martin \u00d8degaard added his name to the list after 18 minutes when a hefty fall jarred his shoulder; he was eventually replaced by his deputy Ethan Nwaneri. \u00d8degaard had suffered a similar injury against Leeds United in his second outing of the season.<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s attacking performance will reassure Mikel Arteta, but the club\u2019s packed treatment room remains a concern as the campaign progresses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Zubimendi’s brace and Gyokeres’ strike underline Arsenal’s depth amid mounting injury concerns. this<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2745,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[192,969],"tags":[826,414,677],"class_list":["post-2746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal","category-premier-league","tag-bukayo-saka","tag-eberechi-eze","tag-ethan-nwaneri"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}