Arsenal (H) 26/02/25

 

Nottingham Forest 0-0 Arsenal

 

A Wednesday night under the City Ground lights. Second v Third. Two teams filled with talent. A European race nearing its finishing line. There’s no place else I’d rather be.

Forest have come out on top in three of the last four Trent side meetings between the sides, most famously beating the Gooners 1-0 to stay up and help give Manchester City the title. The other two victories fell in the FA Cup when the Reds were a league below. In the reverse fixture back in November, Arsenal won 3-0 with youngster Ethan Nwaneri netting his first Premier League goal.

Forest started the half brightly, causing Arsenal some problems early on, but the visitors grew into the game and started to take control keeping Forest in their own half. The Reds did break on the counter on a few occasions. The first real chance of the half fell to the Gooners. Riccardo Calafiori made a run into the left side of the box and was found by Trossard. The full-back turned Nicolas Dominguez and fired a shot from a tight angle looking for the far corner. All he could find was the inside of the post before it bounced back into the arms of Matz Sels. The rest of the half consisted of Arsenal dominating and putting the hosts under pressure and Forest remaining resilient and defensively organised. Arsenal couldn’t create anything with all their possession, only forcing half chances.

The second half began just as how the first ended: the visitors taking control. Their first chance of the half coming from a corner. Declan Rice crossed in the ball from the left aiming for the far post where it found an unmarked Mikel Merino. His header was palmed away by Sels before being cleared away. The Gooners are known for their brilliant set-pieces and that’s where they got their best chances. This time Martin Odegaard delivered in the corner from the right. It was met by Kieran Tierney at the front post, but his header sailed just wide of the post.

After spending the last 42 minutes without registering a single shot, Chris Wood came close to scoring his 19th of the season. Sels took a free kick from deep into his own half, looking for his front men. Gabriel won the header against Wood, but it landed straight to the feet of Gibbs-White. He flicked it back and turned past Jorginho before finding Wood making the run towards goal. The angle was up against him, but the Kiwi took the shot only to have it parried away by David Raya. It was Forest who were creating the chances now. On a quick break, Gibbs-White received the ball down the right. He looked to curl it round Saliba to leave Wood one-on-one with Raya. The defender intercepted the pass, but it still landed in Wood’s path. His touch was poor, and it allowed Saliba to perform a brilliant last-ditch tackle.

Arsenal had the perfect opportunity to take a late lead but after missing the target, the offside flag was raised. From the left, Zinchenko played it back for Odegaard whose effort was blocked on the line by Murillo. It fell back to him, but his second attempt was saved by Sels. In the dying moments, Saliba played the ball straight to Elliot Anderson, who drove forward down the left. He waited for more support to arrive before crossing for the back post. Callum Hudson-Odoi was sliding in but couldn’t get any contact.

Wednesday’s performance was much better. We went back to basics and went back to our defensive solidity. Arsenal did put us under pressure in the first half, but we managed to see off any danger, limiting them to only one shot on target. As the game neared the end, I thought we were the team more likely to go on to take the lead. My man of the match was Elliot, but I think Murillo and Milenkovic really showed some of what their partnership is about. It wasn’t all three points but it’s a step in the right direction and another clean sheet. That is the first Premier League 0-0 draw at the City Ground since 1998.

 

Forest: Sels; Williams, Murillo, Milenkovic, Aina; Anderson, Dominguez (Danilo 63’); Hudson-Odoi, Gibbs-White, Elanga (Yates 62'); Wood (Awoniyi 85')

 

Arsenal: Raya; Calafiori (Tierney 46'), Gabriel, Saliba, Timber (White 85'); Rice, Jorginho (Zinchenko 70'); Trossard, Odegaard (Partey 85'), Nwaneri (Sterling 77'); Merino