Martin Zubimendi scored twice as Arsenal cruised to a 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, sending the Gunners back to the top of the Premier League table.
Viktor Gyokeres also scored a goal to cap a dominant display for Mikel Arteta’s side, who were rock solid in defence thanks to Cristhian Mosquera’s commanding performance.
Arsenal have now kept back-to-back clean sheets in the absence of William Saliba, underlining their squad depth.
Zubimendi got the ball rolling with a stunning volley from the edge of the penalty area after Noni Madueke’s corner was cleared.
It was a deserved lead for Arsenal – though their best chances still came from set-pieces as Mikel Merino, Riccardo Calafiori, and Jurrien Timber all went close from dead balls before the opener.
The narrative changed just seconds into the second half as two new signings combined to double the lead. Eberechi Eze, on his full Arsenal debut, raced down the left from a Calafiori pass to feed Gyokeres, who had an easy finish from close range.
Ange Postecoglou’s Forest only started looking dangerous when they were two goals down. Chris Wood nearly scored an audacious effort but it forced a superb save onto the bar from David Raya, who kept a clean sheet on his 100th appearance for the club.
The third goal, however, came through another set-piece, and another goal involving a new signing as Zubimendi nodded in Leandro Trossard’s cross from a free-kick routine to seal the points.
It was back-to-back 3-0 defeats for Forest – under two different head coaches. Their current boss in Postecoglou – who faced chants of ‘sacked in the morning’ and ‘are you Tottenham in disguise?’ – has a bit of work to get ‘Angeball’ in motion.
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