Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal Review
Arsenal’s chances of winning the Premier League title took another hit as they played to a 0-0 draw against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, a team that has only managed to win one of their last five league matches. With the home team struggling and Arsenal lacking a strong presence in attack, it was not surprising that both teams found it difficult to create scoring opportunities in a tense match.
Early on, Riccardo Calafiori and Nikola Milenković received unnecessary yellow cards, but it was Calafiori, filling in for the suspended Myles Lewis-Skelly, who had the best opportunity of the first half. He displayed excellent composure to maneuver around Nicolás Domínguez in the penalty area and aimed for the far corner with his weaker foot, but much to the relief of the home fans, the shot hit the post.
In the end, neither goalkeeper faced any significant challenges before halftime, and with only one shot on target from either team, both coaches would have been urging their players to improve after the break. This was particularly evident with Mikel Arteta’s team, as an unmarked Mikel Merino’s header at the back post was only kept out by a close-range save from Matz Sels. This opportunity arose from a corner, and the league’s set-piece experts were at it again shortly after when substitute Kieran Tierney headed just wide from a Martin Ødegaard cross.
Despite a sustained period of pressure from Arsenal, they couldn’t convert their chances, and soon, Nottingham Forest began to pose threats of their own. Chris Wood finally tested David Raya after receiving a pass from Morgan Gibbs-White, but a fantastic last-minute tackle from William Saliba denied him a one-on-one opportunity shortly after. That was about all Forest could manage offensively, and with Arsenal also failing to find the necessary quality, the match ended in a draw that benefits neither team.
Forest remains in third place, but their position in the top four is increasingly at risk, with only two points separating them from fifth place Chelsea. Meanwhile, Arsenal fell further behind in the title race after their second consecutive match without a win.
