Saturday saw us put in a sensational display to cruise to a 3-0 win against Nottingham Forest, with our summer recruits all starring at Emirates Stadium.
But why were we so dominant against Forest? Adrian Clarke has delved more into the footage and stats to find out why:
no stopping noni
Lifted by two strong performances for England during the international break, Noni Madueke returned to Premier League action with a bang. Playing with so much positivity, he produced a string of brilliant ball carries that tormented and embarrassed Forest full-backs Morato and Neco Williams.
Completing five of eight dribbles and regularly exploding past his markers to race towards the byline, Madueke sparkled throughout his 78 minutes on the pitch. Our two centre-backs were the only Gunners to enjoy more touches than our right winger (65), as his teammates constantly gave him the ball.
A team-high 13 of those involvements came inside Forest’s penalty area on the back of teasing runs, and as it stands, no one in the division is averaging more touches inside the box than our new number 20.
Most touches in opp. box per 90
Noni Madueke
Arsenal
9.66
Jack Grealish
Everton
9.44
Omar Marmoush
Man City
9.00
Yankuba Minteh
Brighton
8.52
Anthony Gordon
Newcastle
8.00
On a day when nine different players created a chance, it was Madueke who led the way with a hugely impressive five key passes. Given some terrific service from Jurrien Timber behind him, often from his inside, Madueke isolated the left back in 1v1s as a matter of course.
Madueke Dribbles & Key Passes
The in-form 23-year-old also played teammates in on the overlap when opportunities arose, having a bright awareness of who was around him. This beautifully timed slip pass to Viktor Gyokeres saw a fierce strike rattle the post:
Read more Madueke: More to come from our attack
MOSQUERA IMPRESSES AGAIN
We are yet to concede a goal from open play, and this was another afternoon where Mikel Arteta’s side defended with great organisation and discipline as a dangerous Forest outfit were restricted to just one shot on target and an XG of just 0.2.
While defending is always a collective effort, it was impossible not to be impressed by Cristhian Mosquera, who was outstanding on his full home Premier League debut.
The young Spaniard took responsibility in our build-up phase, making 75 accurate passes, the most of anyone wearing red and white, and many of those were incisive forward passes too, like this brave ball fizzed between the lines to pick out Declan Rice:
Mosquera ensured we did not suffer in William Saliba’s absence. The 21-year-old oozed assurance, and when called upon, stepped up with some important defensive contributions. Making four clearances, six ball recoveries, two interceptions and two successful tackles, including this crucial one after Forest had hit the crossbar and our defence had to scramble to keep them at bay:
EXPOSING A HIGH LINE (AGAIN)
The key moment was our second goal, scored just after half-time by Gyokeres, who owed plenty to Eberechi Eze for a wonderful assist. It was a goal that bore resemblances to a strike we scored against Leeds United in our first home game.
On both occasions Riccardo Calafiori, inverting from left back, saw space in behind a defensive line that was held a little too high, clipping lofted passes in beyond the last man for a runner to chase. This time, Eze made the run, whereas against Leeds it was Gyokeres.
Unlike the Swede who bore down on goal before scoring, Eze opted to cross low for the forward to score from six yards out, and our newest signing made his left-footed half volley look ridiculously easy on the run. Perfect in its accuracy and weight, Eze laid this goal on a plate for Gyokeres to effectively win us the game.
This was one of several ‘wow’ moments from Eze, who was in scintillating form. Thrilling fans with dummies, flicks and tricks, he put in a slick performance on the left side of our attack.
Read more Arteta impressed by his new signings' impact
CUTTING THROUGH FOREST
This was a smooth, polished display in possession. Ange Postecoglou wanted his side to go man-to-man where possible, but our pass-and-move football was often too hot for them to handle.
Both full-backs popped up on the inside to create confusion, our two central midfielders also took turns to play high up the pitch, while Ethan Nwaneri – on for Martin Odegaard at No.10 – regularly dropped deep.
This example below shows Mikel Merino and Martin Zubimendi dragging Forest’s midfielders past the halfway line, with Nwaneri dropping in to get the ball off of Mosquera. Calafiori, who has seen the space in central midfield, offered himself for a pass, and we played through the thirds with quality.
In truth, the visitors struggled to get to grips with our intelligent movement throughout. When you consider we only made 69 more passes than Nottingham Forest, it is impressive to see how much more penetrative we were in terms of creating openings to score.
The match stats tell the story of an Arsenal side that had five big chances, and 12 shots inside the box, compared to next to nothing from the visitors:
Arsenal
Attacking
Forest
1.84
xG
0.2
16
Shots
5
5
Shots on target
1
12
Shots inside box
3
1
Hit woodwork
1
5
Big chances
0
ZUBI AT THE DOUBLE!
Martin Zubimendi will never forget this encounter, scoring two fabulous goals to open his account for the club in style. He was effervescent in his play throughout the game, linking play seamlessly and with top-class distribution, but it was his brace that grabbed the headlines.
For his first, Postecoglou, full of respect for our set-piece prowess, brought all 11 players back into the area, all of whom were between the goal line and penalty spot. This left space for our players loitering on the edge of the box, but even so, nobody would have expected Zubimendi to connect so sweetly with a magnificent right-foot volley. Will we see a better goal at Emirates Stadium all season?
Later on, he settled the contest with a well-timed leap and header from a Leandro Trossard cross. The Belgian had only been on the pitch for a few seconds, but he immediately identified a 2v1 (Merino and Zubimendi on Williams) at the far post, before flighting the perfect cross for our summer signing to nod home:
Zubimendi and Madueke both delivered performances that were at least 9/10, but right across our side there were terrific individual displays.
Yet the foundation for this well-earned win was slick teamwork, and a phenomenal work ethic, with and without the ball. Running over 7km further than our opponents, while also outclassing them in possession, this was a highly purposeful effort that showed what a classy side we have become. Considering how many key players were missing, it was a tremendous showing.
Read more Watch a full match replay of our Forest win
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