SETTABLOID

Arsenal returned to winning ways in the Premier League with their victory over Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Goals from Bukayo Saka, Thomas Partey and Ethan Nwaneri secured a 3-0 win for the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium in their first match after the November international break.

Mikel Arteta’s side went into the game nine points behind leaders Liverpool in the Premier League table and without a win in their previous four top-flight fixtures. That gap has now been reduced to six points, with the Merseyside club due to face Southampton on Sunday afternoon.

Arsenal still have 26 more league games to play this season before the title race will be officially decided. The Gunners were handed a boost in the race for the title as Manchester City were beaten 4-0 at home by Tottenham Hotspur just a couple of hours after their win over Forest.

With Arsenal getting three points on the board in the Premier League for the first time since the start of October.

Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick did not mince his words after a dramatic 2-2 draw against Celta Vigo at Balaidos, where the Catalans squandered a 2-0 lead in the final ten minutes.

The German tactician delivered a stern message to his players both in private and during his post-match interviews, emphasizing the need for a stronger mentality and sharper focus.

Barcelona looked to be cruising toward victory thanks to goals from Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski. However, a red card for midfielder Marc Casado in the 82nd minute turned the tide of the match.

Just two minutes later, Jules Kounde’s individual error allowed Celta to halve the deficit. The hosts then completed the comeback with a stunning equalizer in the 86th minute, leaving Barcelona stunned and Flick fuming.

Flick addressed the team in the dressing room immediately after the game, waiting for Gavi to finish his media duties before gathering the squad.

Ethan Nwaneri scored his first ever Premier League goal against Nottingham Forest on Saturday. The 17-year-old came on for Martin Odegaard in the second-half and sealed an important victory for Mikel Arteta’s side.

Nwaneri became Arsenal’s second youngest ever goal scorer in the competition, only beaten by Cesc Fabregas back in 2004.

The midfielder has now scored four goals in all competitions for the Gunners this season, having also scored a brace against Bolton and grabbing another against Preston in the Carabao Cup earlier this campaign.

Only Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz have scored more goals for Arsenal than Ethan Nwaneri in 2024/25.

Arsenal star Riccardo Calafiori has heaped praise on midfielder Mikel Merino following the 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.

The Gunners returned to winning ways with a resounding performance against Forest. Bukayo Saka, Thomas Partey and Ethan Nwaneri were the goalscorers.

Merino got a surprise start alongside Jorginho in central midfield and he produced a good showing.

The 28-year-old had a passing accuracy of only 85 percent, but he won six duels alongside six recoveries. He also won two tackles with as many interceptions.

Arsenal enjoyed the perfect return to Premier League action after the international break with a comfortable 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

The Gunners dominated from start to finish and goals from Bukayo Saka, Thomas Partey and Ethan Nwaneri secured all three points to put them back in contention at the top of the table. That was particularly the case after Tottenham’s shock 4-0 win away at Manchester City.

Many have suggested that Arsenal are already out of the title race. Draws against Chelsea and Liverpool and defeats to Newcastle and Bournemouth left them nine points off the pace at the November international break. No side has ever toppled such a deficit before.

The Norwegian has only been back for two games, but his impact has been transformational. He grabbed an assist in a man of the match display against Chelsea. Against Nottingham Forest, though, he went up another level.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has defended Bukayo Saka following remarks by England captain Harry Kane, who suggested some players may have “taken advantage” of the season’s intensity to avoid international duty.

Kane voiced disappointment over the absence of several players, including Saka and Declan Rice, from England’s UEFA Nations League matches due to reported injuries. However, Saka returned to action for Arsenal on Saturday, scoring the opening goal in a 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest. The win ended the Gunners’ four-game Premier League winless streak.

“Well, we can send an MRI scan, it’s very simple,” Arteta said. “That’s a communication that was very clear between the medical staff of Arsenal and the England national team. He hasn’t done anything; he was away and needed time to heal. He’s done one training session.”

Arteta also highlighted the on-field connection between Saka and captain Martin Ødegaard, who assisted the winger’s goal with a perfectly timed pass.

“That’s chemistry,” Arteta explained. “Sometimes you meet somebody and straight away you make eye contact, there’s something close, and with those two, it happened. Off the field, it happens, and on the field, it’s the same.

This time for Arsenal, it was a positive international break. There were very few fears entering the two weeks away from club football after Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka pulled out of England duty, whilst Martin Odegaard wasn’t selected for Norway.

Hindsight says that Nottingham Forest were poor (they were) and are reverting more to expectation after also losing to Newcastle. However, the reality was that Arsenal were winless in four, posed with a tricky task upon their return.

None of the threat on paper played out, though, and Odegaard linked with Saka to lead Arsenal to an easy 3-0 win. It was the sort of cruise-control display that can go under the radar but has been much needed in a season of turbulence at every corner for the Gunners.

Arsenal are being proactive in their approach to tying both Bukayo Saka and Ethan Nwaneri down to new contracts, according to reports. It is suggested that the club are wary of Saka, in particular, entering the final two years of his deal next summer even though he signed fresh terms in May 2023.

 Arsenal have been able to agree new deals for all of their best players over the past few seasons in a bid to future proof themselves from outside interest.

Ethan Nwaneri gives off the sense that he thinks – or perhaps more likely knows – he is too good for the level of football no matter what standard he is playing at. Whether that is for the Arsenal Under-21s, England Under-19s, against League One opposition, Championship players, or a team third in the Premier League earlier this month, it doesn’t bother him.

To this extent, everyone had best get used to see Nwaneri raise his index finger in celebration. It is hardly yet a trademark but is a constant after he puts the ball in the net. Understated but authoritative, Nwaneri looks like a player who already just feels that is going to do this a lot.

If his last two months or so are anything to go by, he’s right. Since starting against Bolton in the Carabao Cup he now has four goals for Arsenal, all showing different strands of brilliance. Here, against Nottingham Forest, he sensed an opportunity.

Every appearance for him is a cameo. There is always a moment, and with Nuno Espirito Santo’s side positively disappointed and eager to leave a soaking wet north London having hardly laid a glove on Arsenal, Nwaneri had several.

He only came on with 20 minutes left but took just seconds to get things flowing. Running into what is going to become known as that space for Nwaneri, the alleys of the right half-space which stretch horizontally across the pitch, he jinked past two players, cut on to his left foot and curled an effort narrowly wide.

It was the impact and movement of a player who could smell the opportunity to score his first Premier League goal. A similar piece of skill got things going late on in the win over Leicester City earlier this season.