NOTTINGHAM FOREST 0-1 ARSENAL: Noni Madueke's deflected strike 10 minutes from time closed the gap at the top of the Premier League to just three points

The army of away fans did not really care by the end.

Noni Madueke’s deflected winner got the job done at the City Ground and earned Arsenal a precious victory and three points as they closed the gap on Manchester City at the top.

Incredibly, Arsenal’s previous two trips to Nottingham Forest had ended as goalless draws and actually it was probably the worst of the three games in the boredom trilogy.

Arsenal did not manage a shot on target until the 80th minute when Madueke’s shot flew into the net to delight the travelling fans behind that goal.

Forest have also now gone eight hours and 26 minutes without a home goal in all competitions. Yes, it was that bad. And more. It has not been an ideal start for new Forest boss Oliver Glasner with just one win from their opening seven games.

Make sure you don't miss sport's biggest stories and breaking news by making the Daily Mirror one of your Google preferred sources.

Ultimately, it is just about getting the win, closing down the gap at the top and, for Mikel Arteta, he will be happy just to get the three points.

You could call it the mark of champions by winning when they do not play well and also getting a victory at a tough away ground which the City Ground undoubtedly still is.

It was also a big moment for Madueke who has been so hit and miss since his £52m arrival from Chelsea in the summer of 2025. Madueke has never been able to hold down a regular starting place and often looks like a fish out of water on the left wing.

But, in fairness, Madueke did liven things up after coming on for the ineffective Eberechi Eze at half time and scored after cutting in from the left wing.

However, the wider problem for Arsenal is they actually look worse up front than last season and yet they were supposed to improve their squad in the summer.

Instead, they sold Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli, brought in Christos Tzolis - who is currently out injured - and look so short of ideas in attack.

How can you possibly win the title - and then make the strike force worse? They missed out on Morgan Rogers and got horribly played by Vinicius Junior.

They now have fewer options and yet are trying desperately to defend their title and, on this evidence, it is going to be a long hard slog.

Arteta said on Friday that he regards Kai Havertz as a 25-goal striker but he headed their best first-half chance over the bar.

Bukayo Saka was up against Neco Williams down his flank and, despite the Forest full-back getting booked after just 17 minutes, failed to really test him enough.

Arsenal looked short of ideas and inspiration. The first half was shocking. So much for Super Sunday. Sky should rebrand it Switch Off Sunday and ask both clubs to give their TV cash back. It was that bad.

Arteta rolled the dice with his substitutes and was lucky that Forest were so toothless up front themselves even though Liam Delap worked and ran himself into the ground.

The substitutes made a difference for Arsenal. Arsenal produced by far and away their best move of the match in the 72nd minute as Saka and Martin Odegaard combined before Jurrien Timber’s cut back set up Declan Rice only for the England midfielder to smash the ball over the bar.

But Arsenal were finally knocking on the door. Forest substitute Ibrahim Sangare failed to clear properly, Rice fed Madueke who cut into the box and the Arsenal winger’s shot deflected in off Jair Cunha.

That was a stroke of luck. There were hearts in mouths when Forest defender Murillo raced into the box, had a sight of goal in the dying stages but blazed over. It was a let-off but was a reflection of the game.