Noni Madueke scored a late winner as Arsenal secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Sunday to stay close to Premier League leaders Manchester City.
The England winger found the net in the 80th minute with a deflected shot that gave Mikel Arteta’s side all three points.
The victory took Arsenal to 18 points, three behind Manchester City. Forest, meanwhile, dropped into the relegation zone with just five points. Arsenal enjoyed most of the possession but struggled to create clear chances against a determined Forest defence.
The visitors came close in the first half when Gabriel’s effort was cleared near the goal line by Ousmane Diomande.
Kai Havertz also had an opportunity to score but sent his header wide from a Declan Rice free kick. Forest threatened through Dan Ndoye, who fired into the side netting after Riccardo Calafiori made a mistake.
Arteta made a change at halftime, bringing Madueke on for Eberechi Eze. The move eventually proved decisive as Madueke broke the deadlock with 10 minutes remaining.
The winger cut inside from the left and struck towards goal. His effort took a deflection off Jair Cunha and went past goalkeeper Matz Sels.
It was Arsenal’s only shot on target in the match. Forest pushed forward in search of an equaliser and nearly found one in the closing stages.
Declan Rice blocked an effort from Chris Wood before Murillo went on a fine solo run and curled his shot narrowly wide in added time.
Ezri Konsa then made an important challenge to stop Liam Delap from getting a clear chance.
Arsenal held on to secure their sixth league win of the season. After the match, Arteta admitted that his team had struggled to break down Forest.
“We knew the margins would be small unless you open up the game much earlier,” Arteta told Sky Sports.
“We had to be so patient, without getting frustrated.”
The Arsenal manager also felt his players should have done better with their chances.
“That’s the difference, you have to be clinical,” he said.
Forest manager Oliver Glasner was disappointed with the result despite praising his team’s performance.
“I think everybody feels the result is unfair today,” Glasner said.
“It was their only shot on target and this one was deflected and Arsenal took the win.”
Forest have now failed to score in all their home Premier League matches this season.
The defeat increased their problems near the bottom of the table, while Arsenal continued their push to defend the league title.
