Sean Dyche: "To get a clean sheet is amazing"
“It’s not easy playing these sides, the commitment is different,” says the Forest boss. “There’s the commitment to score a goal of course, but what about the commitment to the shape, the basics, the hard yards of the game? And I thought we did that fantastically well as a group.
“They still had a couple of chances but listen they’re a top side and they’re flying. But to get a clean sheet against them is amazing. We had a couple of chances ourselves but it’s hard to open them up, as they’ve shown all season.”
On Matz Sels’ super save from Saka: “I’m pleased for him. There’s a lot of noise on their set-pieces and I thought he did well and that as well. The whole group did. But that’s a great save, I think it comes over Merino’s head, he sees it late. That was a good spring and he gets his fingertips to it. That was a big moment of course, but we had a big moment ourselves.”
Mikel Arteta: "It is a clear penalty"
“Obviously disappointed because we want the points,” says Arsenal’s head coach. “We haven’t conceded a single shot, we created four big chances. On top of that, there is a clear penalty that has not been given. No, it is true he [Aina] plays it with his shoulder, but then he brings the arm in to keep the ball inside the pitch, so it is a clear penalty.”
That Arsenal non-penalty: It would be fair to say Mikel Arteta is not happy about Arsenal not being awarded a “clear penalty” for an Ola Aina handball (more of which anon) and I can understand where the Arsenal head coach is coming from. I have no dog in this particular fight and while I have no problem with the decision, I’ve seen handball penalties given for far less when it comes to handball.
The Forest full-back appeared to control the ball with his arm as he tried to stop it going out of play for a corner but our old friends at the Premier League Match Centre have said “The referee’s call of no penalty to Arsenal was checked and confirmed by VAR – with it deemed that the ball was played off Aina’s shoulder first, while his arm was also in a natural decision.”
Full time: Nottingham Forest 0-0 Arsenal
As scoreless draws go, this was a good one. Arsenal had chances to win the game but failed to convert them, while the players of Forest put in a great shift and deserve their point. Gabriel Martinelli missed the pick of the chances for Arsenal, while Matz Sels denied Saka with a ridiculously good save. Mikel Merino will also feel he should have done better when failing to make proper contact with a pinpoint Declan Rice cross. It’s finished all sqaure at the City Ground but Forest will be the happier of the two teams.
90+5 min: Saka sends a cross into the Forest box but the ball drops for Hutchinson, who whacks it clear as hard and far as he can. It’s all over at the City Ground, where Arsenal have passed up the opportunity to go nine points clear at the top of the table but have still extended their lead over Manchester City to seven. Villa play tomorrow and could reduce the deficit to them and Arsenal to four points. For Forest, a point against the league leaders has pulled them five points clear of the Thick Black Line.
90+4 min: Omari Hutchinson picks up the ball at the byline and stands it up for Ndoye, six yards out. It’s a mite too high.
90+2 min: Arsenal keep plugging away, clearly tempering their desire for a winner with their dread of going down to a late gut-punch.
90+1 min: The board goes up – just the five minutes of extras.
88 min: Forest change: Omari Hutchinson on for Nico Dominguez, who’s worked incredibly hard for Forest tonight. He walks off the pitch, drenched in sweat and breathing out of his nether regions.
86 min: Morgan Gibbs-White sends a daisy-cutter fizzing wide after running on to a Callum Hudon-Odoi pull-back from the byline. He didn’t connect with the ball quite as well as he’d have liked, possibly put off by Timber, who was in the vicinity.
85 min: Neco WIlliams almost plays Murillo into trouble with a rogue pass from the halway line but the Brazilian does well to ping the ball back to his goalkeeper despite being under pressure with a minimum of fuss. He’s such a good player, Murillo.
79 min: Eze is straight into the thick of the action and Arsenal win a corner. There’s a VAR check for a possible penalty for a handball by Ola Aina, who appeared to use his arm to try to keep the ball in play as it went out of play. Computer says “no” and I’ll be honest – I think Forest have dodged a big bullet there. Penalties are regularly given for far less “handbally” handballs. Nothing comes of the corner.
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78 min: Arsenal are in danger of letting this game get away from them, a state of affairs that owuld be a slightly frustrating end to an otherwise great day. for them Arteta rolls the dice again: Eberechi Eze comes on for Martin Zubimendi.
76 min: Forest substitution: Dan Ndoye on for Igor Jesus. A winger by trade, it seems he’ll be playing through the middle.
74 min: An Elliot Anderson free-kick into the Arsenal penalty area is headed away by Declan Rice. Forest recycle the ball and Rice is again on hand to put a stop to a Nico Dominguez gallop towards the Arsenal goal after the Forest winger was sent on his way by Hudson-Odoi.
73 min: On the touchline, Forest assistant coach Ian Woan gets booked for something or other. Woany!
70 min: Sangare fouls Merino and Arsenal have a fre-kick in a decent position out wide. Declan Rice curls the ball acrossd the edge of the six-yard box, it’s on a plate crying out to be nodded home by the unmarked Merino but the Spaniard only makes the faintest contact with the ball and a wonderful chance goes to waste. He should have scored!!!
68 min: The clock ticks on and Arsenal still haven’t scored despite their dominance. There’s a long way to go but if this match does end all square, will the league leaders view tonight’s result as one point gained and their lead at the top of the table extended, or two points dropped and a chance to really pile the pressure on their nearest title rivals wasted? Both, probably.
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65 min: Matz Sels pulls off a stunning save, seeing the ball late but flinging himself to his right to claw away a Saka header with his fingertips after the substitute had made firm contact with a good Rice cross from the byline. That is outstanding goalkeeping.
64 min: Merino tries to help a Trossard (on for Martinelli at half-time, sorry) cross from the left towards the near post on it’s journey towards goal but is unable to make the crucial contact.
61 min: Dominguez is penalised for fouling Saka near the halfway lines, not too far from the managerial technical areas. I actually thought Saka had clipped the heels of Williams in the build-up and needless to say, Sean Dyche shared my view.
59 min: Matz Sels springs into action to save a Declan Rice volley from 18 yards that bounced into the ground and up towards the diving keeper. I think that might have been Arsenal’s first shot on target and he ball goes out for a corner. Nothing comes of the set-piece.
58 min: That’s not bad strength in depth, is it? Arteta was clearly displeased with the way his side started this second half and he had every reason to be.
55 min: On the Arsenal bench, Arteta has his big metaphorical bell out and is preparing to ring the changes. Mikel Merino, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus are readying themselves for action and come on for Odegaard, Madueke and Gyokeres.
53 min: Hudson-Odoi ambles down the right wing with the ball at his feet before playing it back inside. Forest are growing in confidence, decided that Arsenal aren’t all that after all and have started well in this second half. You fear for them.
51 min: A long crossfield pass from Rice to Noni Madueke is headed out of play for a throw-in by Nico Dominguez, who is back helping out Neco Williams. Arsenal are focussing most of their attacks down the right and the Welshman is being kept extremely busy in his role as Forest left-back.
48 min: Neco Williams takes a throw-in near the halfway line, Forest send the ball towards the far touchline and before too long, it finds its way to Morgan Gibbs-White in a pocket of space just outside the Arsenal penalty area. He’s strangely hesitant to strike the ball first time, dawdles over his shot and sees it blocked. For a man of his talents in those kind of areas, that was a decent chance but it went to waste.
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46 min: Arsenal attack down the right and Ben White whips a cross into the Forest penalty area. Not for the first, second or third time this evening, Murillo intercepts and clears.
Second half: Nottingham Forest 0-0 Arsenal
46 min: Declan Rice does the honours to get us back under way, pinging the ball back to the feet of David Raya.
An email: “The Finnish commentator just described this match as ‘not a classic, yet’,” writes Kári Tulinius. “It’s that kind of optimism that makes a people the happiest nation on Earth.” Finnish? He’s only 28!
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Half-time: Nottingham Forest 0-0 Arsenal
It’s scoreless at half-time and Arsenal missed the pick of the chances when Gabriel Martinelli missed a sitter you would expect any elite footballer who isn’t Gabriel Martinelli to score in their sleep. If memory serves me correctly, he missed an identical chance against Portsmouth last weekend. Forest were seriously under the cosh for long periods of that first half but finished it extremely brightly.
45+2 min: Ola Aina wins a corner for Forest off Martinelli. Anderson’s delivery to the near post is flicked on by Dominguez and Arsenal clear. It’s half-time.
44 min: A rush of blood to the head sends Raya sprinting out of his area to the touchline, where he completely misses the ball as he slides in to try to get to it before Igor Jesus. With Saliba on hand to help him, the goalkeeper gets back to his feet and boots the ball into the stand before Jesus can punish his error.
43 min: Callum Hudson-Odoi curls a cross from the right into the Arsenal penalty area, where David Raya leaps to claim it under no pressure whatsoever from anyone in a red shirt.
40 min: From being unable to get the ball out of their own half for 20 minutes, Forest are piling on the pressure. Ola Aina takes a long throw deep in Arsenal territory but Rice heads it clear. Arsenal break upfield and Gyokeres is played clean through on goal, albeit with a lot of work to do. His inability to bring the ball under control allows Murillo to sprint back and get the block in. It’s another corner for Arsenal and not for the first time this evening, Forest scramble the inswinger clear.
37 min: Crikey! Callum Hudson-Odoi sprints towards the edge of the Arsenal penalty area and is brought down by Jurrien Timber right on the edge. Timber is booked and Forest win a free-kick right on the angle of the penalty area. That could not have been closer to being a penalty for Forest but the foul was perpetrated just outside the box. Nothing comes of Elliot Anderson’s free-kick.
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36 min: Forest send a couple of crosses into the Arsenal box, first from the left and then the right. Both are headed away.
33 min: It’s a callback Wenger-era Arsenal as the visitors try to walk the ball into the net courtesy of a series of mesmerising short passes and intricate movement. They run into traffic but it seems like a matter of when, rather than if the league leaders will open the scoring. Can Nottingham Forest hang on until half-time?
31 min: Arsenal are on top but the deadlock remains intact and Forest have had their moments. On this particular occasion it’s another Arsenal moment – Zubimendi makes a good run from deep and is picked out by a weighted pass from Madueke, only to send his low diagonal effort well wide.
29 min: From an Arsenal corner, the ball breaks to Marintelli, who tries to find the far corner but sidefoots the ball across the face of goal and inches wide of the post. It’s a bad miss and Forest breathe a huge sigh of relief.
28 min: Ben White sends a wonderful cross into the Forest penalty area from the right but neither Gyokeres nor Rice can get the crucial touch.
27 min: “It’s Fatty Foulke, not Foulkes,” writes Bob Kirk, who is correct. Apologies.
24 min: WIth an arcing run to stay onside, Callum Hudson-Odoi tries to run on to a brilliant Murillo pass through the middle from deep, but David Raya is on his toes and dashes out of his area to beat him to the ball by a millisecond. That was a sensational pass by the Forest defender.
22 min: Ola Aina takes a throw-in for Forest and he appears to be wearing unfeasibly large shorts. Think Fatty Foulkes at the turn of the 20th century and you’ll have some idea what I’m talking about.
20 min: Noni Madueke advances on the Forest goal from the right flank but Murillo closes him down and forces the pass to Ben White. He shoots high and wide.
19 min: Another Arsenal corner, on the other side of the pitch. Madueke takes this one and Forest scramble the ball clear again. Arsenal recycle it and Rice tries to pick out Madueke with a diagonal from deep but Murillo steps in to intercept.
16 min: Arsenal corner. Declan Rice raises his left hand and sends the ball towards the far post. Matz Sels helps it on his way to the feet of Martinelli with a wave of his paw. Martinelli is unable to get a clean shot on goal in a crowded penalty area. Forest clear their lines.
14 min: Nicolas Dominguez tries to take advantage of a Gabirel slip to dart through on goal but the Arsenal defender recovers sufficiently to halt his progress with an arm across the face. Dominguez goes down holding his face. It was something and nothing but there’s a break in play so he can receive medical assistance he almost certainly doesn’t need.
12 min: Gyokeres gives the ball away in midfield and Forest move it forward at speed. Morgan Gibbs-White picks out Nicolas Dominguez with a pull-back but the Argentinian’s shot takes a big deflection on its way wide. Nothing comes of the corner.
9 min: Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ola Aina make progress up the right flank for Forest, who soon lose possession. Elliot Anderson wins it back and sends it into the penalty area, where Igor Jesus attempts a scissors-kick, misses the ball and boots WIlliam Saliba in the back instead. There’s a break in play so the Arsenal defender can get treatment.
7 min: Jurrien Timber whips a delivery into the Forest penalty area but Murillo hooks it way before Noni Madueke can attack the ball. Moments later, it’s fizzed into the area again, with Martinelli the intended target. Ola Aina deals with it on this occasion.
6 min: Famous for their ability to score from corners, Arsenal win an early one against the team in the top flight who are second worst at defending set-pieces. Nothing comes of it.
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4 min: Matz Sels wanders way, way out of his penalty area to deal with an Arsenal punt upfield and under a bit of pressure from Gabriel Martinelli, boots the ball out of the stadium and into the car-park. That’ll make for a nice souvenir and/or broken windscreen for somebody.
2 min: Arsenal get their foot on the ball as the Forest fans serenade them with a rendition of “Champions of Europe, You’ll Never Sing That’. I’m not so sure they’re right.
1 min: Igor Jesus is penalised for an early offside, as Forest go forward.
Nottingham Forest v Arsenal is go ...
1 min: Elliot Anderson gets the ball rolling, playing it straight back to Matz Sels, who boots it long. Forest are in red, Arsenal in navy blue.
Not long now: With Guns N’Roses’ Welcome To The Jungle blaring out over the City Ground PA, Martin Odegaard and Morgan Gibbs-White lead out their teams. Kick-off for the fun and games they got which may or may not bring us all to our knees is just a few minutes away.
An email: Arsenal fans will have mixed memories of Sean Dyche teams; probably most saliently here his new-manager-bounce inspiration of a previously useless Everton side to a 1-0 win, smashing a 14-game unbeaten Arsenal run,” writes Charles Antaki. “Admittedly Arsenal haven’t been quite that consistently good this year but Forest have certainly been that consistently bad, so there are omens around for those who care to read them.”
Having paid a visit to Dr Tottenham this afternoon and surprised nobody by leaving his North London clinic with three points and a restorative sense of enormous wellbeing, West Ham have closed the gap to Forest to just four points. No pressure Dychey …
Pre-match reading: From being totally unfit and unable to run across the street three months ago, I am training for the London Landmarks half-marathon in April and wrote this self-indulgent column about what a joyous and life-changing thoroughly unpleasant experience it has been thus far.
Elsewhere in the Premier League
Manchester United 2-0 Manchester City
Chelsea 2-0 Brentford
Leeds United 1-0 Fulham
Liverpool 1-1 Burnley
Sunderland 2-1 Crystal Palace
Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 West Ham
Today’s match officials
Referee: Michael Oliver.
Assistants: Stuart Burt and James Mainwaring.
Fourth official: Tom Kirk.
VAR: Darren England.
Assistant VAR: Sian Massey-Ellis.
Mikel Arteta: “We are building very good momentum,” the Arsenal head coach said of his team yesterday. “And the belief comes from performances and the level of consistency we have shown already this season. What we did at Stamford Bridge [won 3-2 in the Carabao Cup semi-final first legmidweek] should help us to be very convinced that we have the ability.”
Sean Dyche: “We spoke to the players about it and what we expected,” said the Forest gaffer of last week’s FA Cup exit at Wrexham. “It was a professional reaction, as it should be. A few felt they weren’t near where they needed to be and I think the whole collective. It was only the first half [that was not up to standard] and I made it clear. I expect more from the players, as do they, and they made that clear in feeding that back.”
Bukayo Saka on the bench for Arsenal
Those teams: Having stressed the need to protect Bukayo Saka “to get the best out of him”, Mikel Arteta leaves his winger on the bench today, giving Noni Madueke a start in the winger’s place. On the other flank, Gabriel Martinelli comes in for Leandro Trossard. David Raya starts in goal, with Kepa returning to the bench after getting a rare outing in the Carabao Cup against Chelsea.
Sean Dyche makes nine changes to the Forest side that lost at Wrexham last weekend, with Matz Sels and Igor Jesus the only survivors. Ibrahim Sangare is back in midfield after returning from Afcon but there’s no place in the Forest matchday squad for his Cote d’Ivoire teammate Willy Boly.
Nottingham Forest v Arsenal line-ups
Nottingham Forest: Sels, Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams, Sangare, Dominguez, Gibbs-White, Anderson, Hudson-Odoi, Igor Jesus.
Subs: Gunn, Morato, Awoniyi, Douglas Luiz, Ndoye, Hutchinson, Yates, McAtee, Savona.
Arsenal: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber, Odegaard, Zubimendi, Rice, Madueke, Gyokeres, Martinelli.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Mosquera, Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Eze, Trossard, Merino, Havertz, Lewis-Skelly.
Early team news
Arsenal are without Riccardo Calafiori, Christhian Mosquero, Piero Hincapie and Max Dowman, who are all injured. Speaking at his press conference yesterday, Mikel Arteta suggested it will be a few weeks before any of the quartet are available for selection.
For Forest, Oleksandr Zinchenko is ineligible to face his parent club but would have been unlikely to be considered anyway after flunking a rare audition for the first team during their FA Cup exit. Forest are open to ending the Ukrainian’s season-long loan deal this month on the back of his failure to make much of an impression at the City Ground. “We’ve spoken to the player and made it clear on his situation,” said Sean Dyche yesterday. “He’s aware of that so we’ll see what happens.”
In other Forest availability (or lack thereof) news, Chris Wood remains sidelined with a knee injury and goalkeeper John Victor is also out. Ryan Yates could feature after recovering from a twanged hamstring, while Willy Boly and Ibrahim Sangare are available after returning from Afcon. The duo represented Cote d’Ivoire, who were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Egypt.
Premier League: Nottingham Forest v Arsenal
Having won five away games on the spin, the league leaders travel to the City Ground as white-hot favourites to beat a Nottingham Forest side who ended a run of four straight league defeats with a win at West Ham before returning to losing ways by getting knocked out of the FA Cup by Championship side Wrexham. Six points clear at the top of the table, Mikel Arteta’s side will take to the field with a spring in the collective step, having seen their main title rivals Manchester City get humiliated at Old Trafford earlier today.
While they look to have enough about them to avoid relegation, Forest’s Premier League status is far from safe, but in defeat against City in late December they showed themselves capable of giving the Premier League’s elite a decent game. Whether they can take something against an Arsenal side who have won nine and drawn one of their last 10 games in all competitions remains to be seen. Kick-off is at in Nottingham is at 5.30pm but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.
