Arsenal showed the power of their transfer window as their new signings stole the show to earn a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest, and a debut defeat for Ange Postecoglou.
Martin Zubimendi got the ball rolling with a stunning volley from the edge of the penalty area after the electric Noni Madueke’s corner was cleared.
It was a deserved lead for Mikel Arteta’s side – even though Martin Odegaard came off injured with another shoulder problem – though their best chances still came from set-pieces as Mikel Merino, Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber all went close from dead balls before the opener.
That narrative changed just seconds into the second half as two new signings combined to double the lead. Eberechi Eze, on his full Arsenal debut, raced down the left from a Calafiori pass to feed Viktor Gyokeres, who had an easy finish from close range.
Arsenal’s Viktor Gyokeres doubled his team’s leaed
Postecoglou’s Forest only started looking dangerous when they were two goals down. Chris Wood nearly scored an audacious effort but it forced a superb save onto the bar from David Raya, who kept a clean sheet on his 100th appearance for the club.
Yet Arsenal kept stepping on the gears as Gyokeres walloped a near-post effort onto the post, while substitute Declan Rice was inches away from connecting with a Timber cross for a third.
But the third did come through another set-piece, and another goal involving in a new signing as Zubimendi nodded in Leandro Trossard’s cross from a free-kick routine to seal the points.
Arsenal’s Martín Zubimendi scored twice – his first goals for the Gunners
It was back-to-back 3-0 defeats for Forest – under two different head coaches. Their current boss in Postecoglou – who faced chants of ‘sacked in the morning’ and ‘are you Tottenham in disguise?’ – has a bit of work to get ‘Angeball’ in motion.
Arteta: The standards have been raised
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta
“The new ones that they started, five of them today, I was really impressed with them.
“I think you can sense and feel that there are new relationships flourishing there that are going to give us different things to become more unpredictable.
“We played a front three that we never played before. It was good exposure for them. It was, in terms of the timings as well, exactly what they needed because they played a lot of minutes and overall very happy.
“We need two players per position. This is football, nothing different. Again, in the other teams when you see the qualities that they have, it’s nothing new.
“The amount of players that the players have to play. They have to play 70 or 74 games throughout the season, it’s never been done. When the intensity goes that high, they are not going to be able to sustain that.
“So you need more players, the standards have raised, we need better players and there’s no secret.”
Ange: It’s been a disruptive week
Nottingham Forest head coach Ange Postecoglou:
“It’s a disappointing result, whenever you lose a game of football it’s disappointing. Fair play to them, they’re a very good side, especially here at home. If everything’s going well it’s still a difficult task to come here.
“But to keep my disappointment in terms of the result in context, it’s been a very disruptive week for the players. Seven days ago their world was totally different from what it is today. You’ve got to understand that, I certainly do.
“I can’t fault the players’ endeavour and effort. I thought we hung in there, but we never really had control of the game at any point.”