Arsenal did not register a shot on target until Noni Madueke bagged their winner 10 minutes from full-time.
Noni Madueke’s late goal sealed Arsenal’s 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest as the champions survived a scrappy display to close the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester City.
Mikel Arteta’s side were well below their best at the City Ground on Sunday and did not register a shot on target until Madueke bagged their winner 10 minutes from full-time.
While the Gunners earned few style points in the East Midlands, they will not be overly concerned after moving to within three points of table-toppers City, who beat Ipswich 3-2 on Saturday.
After a shock 3-0 loss at Brighton on September 19 , second-placed Arsenal have bounced back with three successive victories.
They beat Leeds in the Premier League and Lille in the Champions League, before their hard-fought success by the banks of the River Trent.
The north Londoners have not been able to recapture the relentless consistency that took them to their first title in 22 years last season.
But they retain the priceless ability to grind out wins and this was their sixth in seven league matches.
Arsenal head to Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday before hosting Everton in the top flight next weekend.
Third-from-bottom Forest have won just twice at home in their last 17 league games, while boss Oliver Glasner has managed only one victory in seven top-flight matches since taking charge in the close season.
Arsenal leave it late
Bukayo Saka’s cross forced Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels to claw the ball from under his crossbar, but Arsenal struggled to establish any rhythm in a scrappy opening.
Forest’s Dan Ndoye tested Arsenal keeper David Raya after drifting in at the far post.
In a rare threat from Arteta’s men, Kai Havertz fired into the side-netting from an acute angle after Martin Odegaard’s pass opened up the Forest defence.
Arteta looked increasingly frustrated on the touchline as a turgid half petered out.
Eberechi Eze paid the price for Arsenal’s lethargy as the England forward was replaced by Madueke at the interval.
There was no immediate improvement from Arsenal despite that change and Forest striker Liam Delap drilled just wide after a rampaging run.
Arsenal were too slow in possession and lacked penetration when they went forward, so Arteta introduced Mikel Merino, Viktor Gyokeres and Jurrien Timber in a bid to ignite a revival.
Bruno Guimaraes was one of the Arsenal players sacrificed after another underwhelming display from the Brazil midfielder in only his second league start since his summer move from Newcastle.
Gabriel Magalhaes headed over from a Declan Rice corner, while Delap could not muster the accuracy to beat Raya from Xaver Schlager’s pass.
Odegaard picked out Timber’s run and the defender teed up Declan Rice inside the Forest area, but his wasteful shot ballooned over, encapsulating the visitors’ impotence.
It was the first time since 2023 that Arsenal had failed to have a shot on target in the first 70 minutes of a Premier League match.
But they finally made the breakthrough in the 80th minute as Madueke cut in from the left flank and unleashed a powerful drive that took a hefty deflection off Forest’s Jair Cunha as it flashed past Sels.
Murillo was inches away from snatching a late leveller for Forest as the defender’s rocket whistled over.