Nottingham Forest 0-1 Arsenal: result and report

Report

Arsenal won 1-0 at Nottingham Forest, though the narrow margin reflects how hard the game was. They had most of the ball and most of the territory, yet the winning goal did not arrive until ten minutes from time.

How the winner came

Noni Madueke scored on 80 minutes, with Declan Rice providing the assist. Because it was the only goal of the game, Arsenal's win rests entirely on that late move. Rice was named player of the match, and his assist was his clearest contribution to the result.

Arsenal: plenty of the ball, few clear openings

Arsenal had the territory but struggled to turn it into chances. They had 74% possession and 66 dangerous attacks to Nottingham Forest's 19, while their xG of 1.33 edged Forest's 1.01.

Despite all that pressure, they managed only five shots, and just one was on target: the winner itself. They also missed their only big chance and hit the woodwork. That is why the game stayed goalless for so long, even with Arsenal having so much of the ball.

Nottingham Forest: more threat than their share of the ball

Forest had only 26% of possession, yet they still found ways to trouble Arsenal. They had more shots (six to five), more shots on target (two to one) and more key passes (11 to eight). Arsenal had to make two saves to keep them out.

Forest created no big chances, though. Their threat came from lower-quality efforts, which explains why their xG stayed below Arsenal's despite the higher shot count.