It was the first day of the rest of their season. After a patchy start to the campaign, littered with red cards and brain fades, double saves and points needlessly dropped, what Arsenal needed more than anything else was a straightforward win.
It’s in the routine Saturday 3pm kick-offs, just as much as in the live televised clashes, and in wins ticked off almost without incident, far more than in the great expenditures of emotion, that championships are decided.
Arsenal may or may not be challenging for the title in May but this, at last, was a performance and result that allowed them to believe they might be able to recover from a run of two points from their previous four games.
“I sensed a different energy 48 hours before the match,” said Mikel Arteta. “Something was different. I sensed a great togetherness and to change the situation after going through a difficult period for us. From the beginning there was an enthusiasm about us.”
Although Bukayo Saka scored the opening goal and was a constant menace on the right, and Ethan Nwaneri wrapped up the points with his first league goal, it was Martin Ødegaard’s presence in midfield that was key.
There had been a greater fluidity as he returned in the draw at Chelsea before the international break – before Arsenal’s recent capacity for sloppiness cost them a win – and that feeling that the Norwegian brings coherence, that he is the great lubricator of their midfield and forward line, was reasserted.
Not that this was a return to what might be considered a first team – in as much as any side has such a thing these days – with Kai Havertz left out of a league game for the first time since January, Ben White absent because of a knee injury and Declan Rice restricted to the bench with a toe problem. Squads also are vital to winning titles.
“The team needed it,” said Arteta, “so they all feel important that they all have something to give.”
Ødegaard is a diligent captain, forever pointing and guiding. He leads the press. He has a glorious left foot. But most of all, he has the awareness and technical ability to play the sort of deft passes and sharp one-twos that allows Arsenal to flow; his injury problems, surely, have been the main reason Arsenal’s xG created this season has been almost 25% down on last. Saka, in particular, was energised by their partnership on the right, even without White’s overlaps.
It was that link-up that brought the first goal, a smart interchange creating the space for Saka to skip by Alex Moreno and James Ward-Prowse before lashing his shot past Matz Sels. “He is one of the best at managing the tempo of the game,” said Arteta, “when to accelerate and when to slow it down.”
Forest’s plan, presumably, was to do much what they had done at Anfield, stifling the game in the first half before opening up on the counter in the second. But although their offside trap caused Arsenal problems, the home side could easily have been two- or three-up by half-time. As it was, they had to wait until seven minutes after the break for the second, Thomas Partey clipping home an angled 25-yarder.
“It was not a good performance,” said Nuno Espírito Santo. “We did a lot of bad things. We’ve conceded six goals in the last two games so I’m worried. We have to put it right immediately this week. We allowed space; we cannot allow this.”
The result was as uneventful a win as Arteta could have dreamed of. No drama, no fuss, just a comfortable three points. Can Arsenal, then, win the title? Ideally, they would not be giving anybody a head start but although they began the weekend nine points behind the leaders Liverpool and four points behind Manchester City, Opta’s data suggested they had had the fifth-hardest start of any club (Forest, who began the day level on points, had, by contrast, had the fifth easiest). They have played five of the other six teams who finished in the top seven last season away from home. They will have to get on a run to get back into the title race, but the fixture list means that is at least conceivable.
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