Arsenal’s title credentials just got stronger as they blew away struggling Nottingham Forest in a commanding 5-0 display at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
The Gunners returned to the top of the table with two points now separating them from reigning champions Manchester City in second.
It was a brilliant start for the high-flying Gunners as Gabriel Martinelli fired them ahead inside five minutes after linking up brilliantly with his fellow winger Bukayo Saka. The Brazilian played the ball out wide to Saka and the England international whipped a delightful ball back into Martinelli who fired a thumping header past Dean Henderson.
Despite losing Saka to injury in the first half, the hosts' continued to thrive in attack - with his replacement Reiss Nelson having a great impact. The substitute scored two goals in three minutes as Arsenal stretched their lead to three shortly after the break. And for a player who has found his chances limited in this high-performing side, he grabbed his opportunity with both hands.
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Thomas Partey then got in on the scoring action to make it 4-0 with a superb strike from outside the box - it was identical to the one he fired past Tottenham Hotspur at the beginning of the month. The victory was then rounded off with a fine strike from captain Martin Odegaard who smashed the ball into the roof of the net from the left side of the box.
Arsenal looked more like themselves at the Emirates this afternoon after two disappointing results as they were held to a draw with Southampton last weekend, before suffering a defeat against PSV Eindhoven in the Europa League on Thursday.
As expected they dictated play against the Tricky Trees and the game gave us a reflection of just how far Arsenal have stretched ahead of their top four rivals, excluding Manchester City. It has already been said countless times how much the Gunners are being rewarded for giving Mikel Arteta the time and resources to mould a squad to his liking and impose his philosophy and culture on the club.
They have emerged as the biggest threat to City’s hopes of a third straight title win under Pep Guardiola, while the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea have stagnated with both teams suffering defeats on Saturday to Leeds United and Brighton & Hove Albion respectively. And when you look at their bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur, yes they are getting points on the board, but their way of playing under Antonio Conte has faced a lot of scrutiny in recent weeks. They were rather fortunate to resurrect a victory over AFC Bournemouth in their last outing after going two goals down.
It is also worth noting that Liverpool lost 1-0 to Forest only a week ago. Arsenal had no trouble in doing what the Reds failed to do and picked apart the Premier League strugglers with ease.
Arteta, through his commitment to his style and the slow process of adding missing pieces to the puzzle of his team, is now getting consistency from his group. From sticking with their manager for the last three years, Arsenal have moved ahead of their London rivals as both Chelsea and Spurs have seen three different managers since Arteta took charge of the Gunners back in 2019. While both teams have undergone constant change during this period, Arsenal have been slowly evolving into the formidable force they are now.
Five points separate Arsenal from Spurs while the Gunners have collected 10 points more than Chelsea in fifth and 15 points separate them from Liverpool in ninth. This further reflects just how much the balance of power has been shifting in recent months and this Arsenal team are showing no signs of slowing down.
