Julius Okorie
Super Eagles defender Ola Aina could not stop Nottingham Forest from 3-0 defeat in the hands of Bukayo Saka gingered Arsenal Saturday.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelNottingham Forest it will be recalled had requested Ola Aina’s release from Eagles camp ahead of the last AFCON qualifiers against Rwanda to enable him beef up the team for the Gunners clash. The request forced Aina to miss the match against Rwanda which Eagles incidentally lost 2-1.
Unfortunately Aina’s support did not stop Gunners from producing a producing a dominant display en route to a 3-0 victory that extends the Gunners’ unbeaten home Premier League (PL) run to nine matches spanning back to last season.
Keen to end a four-match winless league run (D2, L2) that has threatened to derail their title challenge, Arsenal got off to a fast start against this season’s surprise package.
Only league leaders Liverpool had conceded fewer league goals than Forest heading into this one, but within five minutes, the visitors were issued a warning as an offside flag denied Jurrien Timber his first PL goal.
Back in the side after missing much of the campaign so far, Martin Ødegaard was heavily involved when Arsenal did take the lead in the 15th minute, exchanging passes with Bukayo Saka before the England international dribbled into the area and sent a rocket past a helpless Matz Sels.
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Thomas Partey had started every PL match this season, but he made an impact off the bench here, coming on for the second half to double Arsenal’s lead in the 52nd minute. The Ghana international unfortunately will not be part of the 35th AFCON in Morocco after Black Stars contrary to permutations failed to qualify for the tournament.
Forest looked to their bench for a response, but they produced very little going forward for much of the contest, with Chris Wood inadvertently blocking fellow substitute Jota Silva’s goal-bound shot.
The encounter provided an opportunity for Nigeria born England junior international Ethan Chidiebere Nwaneri to register his first premier league goal and help secure all three points for the Gunners posting seven wins in eight league matches.
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
