Nottingham Forest held league leaders Arsenal to a goalless draw at the City Ground on Saturday.
The Reds were indebted to goalkeeper Matz Sels as his brilliance earned the team a superb point, with one save from Bukayo Saka defying belief.
Forest set up to have a little go at Arsenal and frankly, this was a point that should be cherished in the grand scheme of things.
It wouldn’t be an Arsenal draw without Mikel Arteta getting annoyed at something, and he felt Ola Aina was very fortunate not to give away a penalty in the closing stages.
Wayne Rooney and Alan Shearer, however, didn’t agree with the Arsenal boss.
Nottingham Forest boss Sean Dyche
Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images
Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney agree with Sean Dyche
Dyche was in no mood to entertain the notion that Aina should have given a penalty away in the closing stages of the game against Arsenal.
Rooney and Shearer agreed with him too, with Rooney even stating that he thought Jurrien Timber was close to giving a penalty away in the first half when he fouled Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Rooney said on Match of the Day: “Yeah, it’s close, I think if you look here, Timber is holding Callum Hudson-Odoi, and he does get into the box, but yeah, he lets go of him before he gets in the penalty area.”
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Shearer offered his opinion on the Aina call, saying: “I agree with Sean Dyche, we don’t want to see these given, do we? He gets a nudge in the back, does Aina, and for me, that’s just not a penalty, it’s not deliberate, is it?”
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Forest need to build on huge point
Forest have to start believing that they can pull clear of the relegation zone under Dyche, and this was a performance that typified the head coach.
Forest thoroughly deserved something off of Arsenal on Saturday evening and although the team didn’t do enough to win, this was a very good point.
With West Ham winning earlier in the day, it was important that Forest did something useful and the point will impress the fan base at the very least.
Arteta knows that his team didn’t do enough to win the game against Forest and it all sounds like a bit of sour grapes that a penalty didn’t go their way at the City Ground.
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