FA Premier League
ARSENAL 3 (Saka 15, Partey, 52, Nwaneri 85)
NOTTINGHAM FOREST 0

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THIS was pretty stress-free for a must win.

A home defeat against Nottingham Forest would have been unthinkable after a patch of inconsistency for Arsenal and a campaign beginning with controversial red cards, injuries sustained on international breaks and too many dropped points. But the visitors, unusual visitors to the top rungs of the Premier League, displayed such ineptitude that one result was only ever likely.

Naive throughout, Forest allowed Gunners captain Martin Odegaard the run of the turf and the Norwegian was able to execute his whole catalogue of clever passing. He was repeatedly left free on the edge of the box and only his shooting let him down in a match which was controlled by his boots.

It was hard to see how Nuno Espirito Sanchez, the former Spurs man, had lifted Forest so high in the table as Bukayo Saka and the rest of the gang enjoyed their afternoon at the Emirates, regardless of the teeming rain.

The warning of what was to come had been delivered by Arsenal as early as the fifth minute when a set piece fell to full back Jurrien Timber, who pushed the ball into the net from close range and was only denied by a razor sharp offside call checked for several minutes by the line-drawing video assistant referees.

It didn’t matter. Saka began the scoring by stepping past two or three Forest players as he drifted in from the right and crashing a shot into the top corner 15 minutes into the match. England fans may wonder about whether he might have reported for Nations League duty as Saka stretched his legs but the Arsenal fans did not care. They’ve already lost Odegaard and Saka for periods of the season  due to injuries picked up while playing in those games and Mikel Arteta will stand little chance of hunting down Liverpool if one or both face too much time on the sidelines.

Thomas Partey arrived as a half-time subject and scored within seven minutes of his introduction. It was a classic ‘shooot’ from the fans as he collected the ball on the edge of the area. He accepted the advice and thwacked the ball whizzing past keeper Matz Sels.

Forest were unable to muster a single shot on goal and continued to let Odegaard play the midfield maestro and the Gunners strolled through the rain as if they knew that if they needed to score they could.

Late sub Ethan Nwaneri poked home a clever finish five minutes from time in the latest hint of his talent.  Raheem Sterling claimed the assist for that one.

Arteta said afterwards: “Straight away, from the beginning it was dominant, there was an enthusiasm about it. This is what I demand when we score a goal, it should have been another two or three in the first half.”

On the Odegaard’s influence, he praised his captain but also Nwaneri who replaced him in a late substitution: “We talk about fluidity and understanding chemistry and timing, he’s one of the best to do that, to manage the tempo of the game, when to accelerate it, when to slow it down. Obviously he’s been missed and it’s good that we had to sub him because he was starting to get tired and fading a little bit. Ethan comes in and he lifts, you could sense the crowd, the energy and how much they love watching this kid play, which is great.”

ARSENAL: Raya, Calafiori, Timber, Gabriel, Saliba, Merino, Jorginho (Partey HT), Odegaard, Saka, Trossard, Gabriel Jesus
NOTTINGHAM FOREST: Sels, Aina, Morena, Murillo, Milenkovic, Dominguez, Ward-Prowse, Yates, Elanga (Jota HT), Hudson-Odoi, Awoniyi

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