The Arsenal Ramble

Arsenal (2-1) Nottingham Forest | Superb Saka Strike Helps Gunners Win Premier League Opener

Listen on

Episode notes

In this episode of @TheArsenalRamble we discuss the opening Premier League home win against Nottingham Forest.

Proceedings at the Emirates Stadium were delayed by half an hour as Arsenal's new digital ticketing caused chaos, leaving fans unable to get into the ground. The slated 12.30pm kick-off time was eventually pushed back, allowing the ground to fill up before the action got underway.

Jurrien Timber, Declan Rice and Kai Havertz all started for Mikel Arteta's Arsenal, with Eddie Nketiah up front in a side brimming with attacking talent.

Arsenal, who started the game slowly, clicked into gear. Gabriel Martinelli showed a great change of pace to get down the outside of Serge Aurier before a superb roulette turn saw the ball break to Eddie Nketiah. He shifted the ball in-field and fired a deflected low shot beyond former Arsenal reserve goalkeeper Matt Turner.

Saka then showed his limitless talent six minutes later with a glorious second goal. The 21-year-old picked the ball up in the right channel, shifted it onto his favoured foot and bent a stupendous effort past the forlorn Turner the ball into the top corner.

It wasn't all good news for Arsenal - Timber limped off in the early exchanges of the second half after a sudden, worrying jolt of his knee - as despite dominating possession, they failed to kill the game off.

Forest, having offered little to nothing, burst into life after Taiwo Awoniyi and Anthony Elanga were introduced late in the second half, and the pair combined superbly to halve the deficit - former Manchester United winger Elanga squaring the ball after breaking at pace for Awoniyi to powerfully slam home from close range.

Morgan Gibbs-White then fired over as the game opened up but Arsenal clung on to clinch an, in the end, hard-earned three points.

We discuss the incoming arival of David Raya and the posibility of more outgoings/incomings!

If you would like to show your support for the podcast and help us grow please consider "buying us a coffee" via this link https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ArsenalRamble