Community Shield winners Arsenal held off Nottingham Forest to win in their opening fixture of the season. With a late goal by self-confessed Arsenal fan Taiwo Awoniyi, Forest were hunting for an upset in front of a buoyant Emirates crowd that were looking to see their team win their first home game.
The match started after a 30-minute delay as Arsenal faced a ticketing issue with their new turnstile programme. This did little to faze the home crowd as they got behind their team from kickoff.
It took twenty minutes for the Gunners to find their rhythm but it was Nottingham Forest who came close to opening the scoring. A long header over the Arsenal defence found Forest forward Brennan Johnson who missed agonisingly with just Ramsdale to beat. Awoken by the shock of possibly going down early, the Arsenal players turned up the he
at and were rewarded for their efforts with an Eddie Nketiah goal. Martenelli sped down the byline and pulled off a magical 360-turn just around the box. It fell to Nketiah who took a few touches before letting fly into the net.
Saka justified his inclusion with an even more terrific goal six minutes later. After brushing off a challenge from a Forest player, he beat his former teammate as he curled the ball into the goal with a deft strike.
A late goal from Forest made for a nervy finish but Arsenal held on to secure victory. New signing Timber will be assessed further after limping off the pitch shortly into the second half.
Arsenal’s next game is away to Crystal Palace while Nottingham Forest are up against Sheffield United.
