Arsenal kept the pressure on Liverpool and Manchester City at the top of the table with a dominant 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night.
Second-half strikes from Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka were enough to see The Gunners over the line and take them to within two points of the leaders. Arsenal will now be hoping that their title rivals slip up in this evening's round of fixtures.
Emile Smith Rowe returned to the starting XI in place of Kai Havertz, while Gabriel Martinelli was also favoured to Leandro Trossard, after his impressive brace against Crystal Palace.
First Half Frustrations
The visitors dominated the opening proceedings, but were restricted to fairly few clear openings. Smith Rowe crept in behind following some tidy link-up play with Oleksandr Zinchenko, but saw his cut-back deflected over the bar.
The hosts briefly threatened midway through the half, with Danilo hitting an always-rising shot over David Raya's goal. Just before the break, Bukayo Saka capitalised on some sloppy defending by Forest, but Murillo blocked to keep the scoreline level heading into the break.
Arsenal ended the half with 82% of the ball, but yet again looked like being frustrated by a low block.
Second Half Silk
Following the break, Forest introduced Taiwo Awoniyi for Chris Wood to alter their attack, but it was Arsenal who instead found another gear. Through the increasingly influential Martin Odegaard, The Gunners looked to assert their dominance. Saka was denied by Matt Turner in the Forest goal, before Jesus smashed the upright following some intricate play on the edge of the box.
It felt a matter time before Arsenal scored, and in the 64th minute, they finally got the breakthrough. A quick throw-in from Zinchenko played Jesus in down the left-hand side, before the Brazilian squeezed a shot in at the near post.
The visitors didn't have to wait long for the second. A swift counter-attack started by Odegaard saw Jesus occupy the right once more, who then played an accurate pass to Saka. The Arsenal starlet took one touch to set himself before rifling a low shot into the far corner to put some daylight between the two sides.
Late Frustrations
It looked as if Arsenal would see out the game at a canter, but with just two minutes left, substitute Awoniyi capitalised on a defensive mixup to pull one back. Forest continued to load balls into the box, but the Gunners defense stood firm to secure a vital three points.
Arsenal now host Liverpool on Sunday and will be hoping to kick-start their title credentials.
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