Arsenal’s first shot on target came in the 80th minute, and Madueke’s deflected strike beat Forest
Noni Madueke came off the bench at half-time and scored the only goal at the City Ground, keeping the champions three points behind Manchester City.
Oct 19, 2026
Arsenal’s first shot on target at the City Ground came in the 80th minute, and it won the game. Noni Madueke, sent on at half-time for Eberechi Eze, cut in from the left and drove a shot that deflected off Jair Cunha and past Matz Sels. The champions left Nottingham with a 1-0 win they did not play especially well for.
It keeps Mikel Arteta’s side second on 18 points, three behind Manchester City, who beat Ipswich 3-2 on Saturday. Forest have five points from seven games and drop into the relegation zone.
Plenty of the ball, very little else
Arsenal had most of the possession and did almost nothing with it before the break. Kai Havertz came closest, without forcing Sels into a save, and Gabriel threatened from set pieces. By half-time Arteta had seen enough of Eze and sent Madueke on in his place.
Forest, for long spells, looked the likelier side to score. Dan Ndoye had an early chance and Liam Delap went just wide early in the second half. Arteta went to his bench again on 66 minutes with a triple change, bringing on Jurrien Timber, Viktor Gyökeres and Mikel Merino. The goal, though, came from the half-time substitute, with a bit of luck on the way in.
Still no home goal for Forest
Oliver Glasner’s side kept pushing after the goal. Chris Wood had a late chance and Murillo, carrying the ball out of defence in stoppage time, went close to an equaliser.
“It was their only shot on target and this one was deflected and Arsenal took the win,” Glasner told Sky Sports. He added: “It’s another defeat and another game when we couldn’t score at the City Ground.”
That is the real problem. Forest lost 1-0 to Leeds and Coventry at home and drew 0-0 with Tottenham before Sunday, so they have still not scored a home league goal this season. Glasner has won one of his seven Premier League matches since taking over in the close season, and that was away at Aston Villa.
Arteta takes the points
Arteta was happy to win ugly. “We knew the margins would be small unless you open up the game much earlier,” he said. “That’s the difference, you have to be clinical.”
It is a sixth league win in seven for Arsenal and a third straight win in all competitions. Their only league defeat came at Brighton, 3-0, on 19 September. The schedule does not ease up: they go to Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday before Everton visit the Emirates next weekend.
For Eze, a half-time substitution while his replacement scored the winner is not a good look. Roy Keane, on Sky Sports, said Arsenal still want him to “take responsibility” and become the main man at the club.