Arsenal did not look like champions for most of Sunday afternoon at the City Ground. They looked like a team who had run out of ideas, right up until Noni Madueke's shot took a deflection off Daniel Munoz and dropped into the net. That was enough for a 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest and a sixth Premier League victory in seven games.
A first half with nothing on target
Neither side managed a shot on target before the interval. That has happened only twice in the Premier League this season, and Arsenal were involved both times. The first was at Aston Villa on 31 August, which Arsenal won 1-0 thanks to a Bukayo Saka goal after the break. The pattern repeated here: a dreadful first half, then a second-half goal from the visitors that nobody saw coming. Forest actually made the better start to the second period and had Arsenal worried that they might be held to their first draw of the campaign.
Madueke on, Eze off
Eberechi Eze was given his first Premier League start of the season and had an ineffective first half. Mikel Arteta replaced him with Madueke at the break, and the winger delivered the one spark Arsenal needed. His shot was Arsenal's first on target all day. It is the third league goal Arsenal have scored through a substitute this season, a total only Ipswich Town, with four, have beaten.
Forest's home problem
For Forest, the frustration was obvious. They had 14 shots and only two hit the target, and they still have not scored a goal in four home league games. Oliver Glasner won the FA Cup and the Conference League with Crystal Palace before moving to the City Ground in the summer, and his Forest side has just one league win so far, at Villa. Glasner said the defeat felt unfair, and on the balance of the second half you can see his point. Arsenal stay second, three points behind leaders Manchester City.
Match facts: Nottingham Forest 0-1 Arsenal, City Ground, Sunday 18 October 2026, Premier League. Arsenal: Madueke (second half, shot deflected in off Daniel Munoz). Forest had 14 shots, two on target. Arsenal are second, three points behind Manchester City.
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