Rob Holding made the perfect comeback from injury as he scored on his first appearance after a 10-month injury to help Arsenal defeat Nottingham Forest.
Match Report
A young Arsenal side made light work of Nottingham Forest to reach the EFL Cup fourth round, with Gabriel Martinelli scoring two.
Gabriel Martinelli opened his Arsenal account with a double on his first start as Kieran Tierney enjoyed a successful debut in a 5-0 EFL Cup third-round thrashing of Nottingham Forest on Tuesday.
Unai Emery completely changed his starting XI from the side that beat Aston Villa 3-2 in the Premier League on Sunday but a youthful Gunners side dominated throughout at Emirates Stadium.
Tierney, playing in his first game since recovering from groin injury following his transfer from Celtic, was rarely tested at left-back as Arsenal's defence enjoyed a comfortable evening.
Match Events
9' CLOSE! Nelson's free-kick wide out
17' NICE TRY! Mustafi's shot over the bar
31' GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Nottingham Forest (Martinelli)
GOAL! Arsenal take the lead! Nelson spreads the ball over to the right-hand side for Chambers who volleys a first-time cross into the area. Martinelli gets the run on Figueiredo before steering the cross into the top right corner from the centre of the box.
41' SAVE! Smith Rowe's header saved
67' MISS! Willock's header wide out
71' GOAL! Arsenal 2-0 Nottingham Forest (Holding)
GOAL! Holding scores Arsenal's second! The resulting corner is swung into the centre of the box by Nelson, and Holding gets the better of Figueiredo before nodding the ball beyond Muric and into the centre of the goal.
77' GOAL! Arsenal 3-0 Nottingham Forest (Willock)
GOAL! Willock makes it three! Moments after coming on, Bellerin sees a strike blocked, before the ball eventually drops to Mustafi. The German slides it back out to the right for the Spanish full-back, who lays it across goal for Willock to tap in from just a few yards out.
84' GOAL! Arsenal 4-0 Nottingham Forest (Nelson)
GOAL! Nelson gets in on the act and makes it four! Saka looks to cut inside, but instead slides the ball down the left side of the area for Chambers. The defender picks his head up and lays it off into the path of Nelson, who steers his effort into the bottom right corner from the middle of the box.
GOAL! Arsenal 5-0 Nottingham Forest (Martinelli)
GOAL! Arsenal grab their fifth! Chambers once again finds himself in acres of space down the left-hand side and looks to send a cross into the path of Martinelli. The Brazilian controls the ball neatly before his strike from 25-yards deflects into the top right corner leaving Muric with no chance.
Jsmooth
1091
If you’re a true gunner, there’s nothing better than seeing this man back on the pitch today.. INSTANT IMPACT, INSTANT ASSIST. Hectooooooorrrrrrrr🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 #PicByMe :)
Chibuz0r
507
today arsenal scored like man city and man city scored like arsenal
winningTiger
251
I wonder what will happen when Tierney,,Bellerin and Holding will all start together
Mavin1556
204
Now I believe we can be Holding the three points of every match in our Chambers with Bellerin and Tierney.
Nesaiknruy_Legend
172
If Mustafi scored that attempted side volley he would have went from most hated to 1 of the most loved in the Arsenal fanbase lol....
Desmondeyum
156
Took Bellerin less than a minute to get his first assist in the season. Arsenal have missed you massively Hector. Welcome back.
Ascis
83
You can find every gif of nice goals here: http://www.goalgif.club/v2/live/matchGifs?match_id=52934220&language=en
itsAtulAnurag
74
Key points 1. Ozil has to start every match, he's an absolute genius 2. Tierney is an absolute beast, and boy he's really fast 3. Chambers was once again great at Right Back even though he's a Center back 4. Boy am I glad that Holding an Bellerin are finally back 5. Arsenal better not do a Gnabry on Saka 6. And surprise, mustafi had a good match, yes you read it right "mustafi" 7. Martinelli, willock and Nelson - "wow"
RichardTay
71
Unai Emery is killing Ozil. He played well and dictating play, yet for no reason sub him out ... This is how you destroy a player. Ozil don’t deserve such humiliation !
Classic_Dimple_Bwuoy
67
Martinelli desrves more chances he is wonderful player and great win for Arsenal
Vikram95
60
Chambers is my motm 3 assists all of which were brilliant and from different flanks as well has to start against United ahead of AMN as he has shown he is much more quality than him
pikadeiosy
57
martinelli is on fire n chambers assist are on something he can play on both sides of the full back position...it will be better if he plays cdm instead of xhaka
Johnnyohm
48
What keeps club doing better Barca: Top class strikers Man city: Standard midfielder Liverpool: Awesome defenders Arsenal: Youth
Desmondeyum
44
mustaphi wuth his second straight clean sheet
Desmondeyum
42
Arsenal running riot tonight💪😎...anyone seen the Tottenham score?
thedreamville
29
“Rob Holding and I kept [Diego Costa] in check with a good cop, bad cop routine. Rob dished it out both verbally and physically, while I put an arm around Costa and shouted encouragements." - Per Mertesacker extract from autobiography via Standard This is what I’ve been saying! Modern defense is based on intelligence.. And the best defenders have it.. Chiellini, Pique, Rio, Kompany, Van Dijk, Koulibaly, including Per. He was never the fastest or strongest but we had the most organized defense whenever he played and it seems Rob benefited a lot from their partnership. Our current pair (Sokratis & Luiz) are decent but their partnership isn’t working out as evident by their abysmally poor communication between themselves and the GK. This is also worsened by the fact that their defending style isn’t based on intelligence as well. To drive this point home, Rob Holding made MUSTAFI look like world class today!!! That is where Rob and possibly Chambers come in. Going forward I think our best partnership will come from the combination of either Sokratis or Luiz and Rob or Chambers. This set up will be more effective as I believe they complement each other’s style of game. Aggressive and fast vs Intelligent and calm. Which is what Per I believe was trying to point out in his autobiography.
Kibcdinp
29
Am not happy over this win. Only to see my best right back in the world mr sprinter on the action. I miss you Hector Bellarin. hope you are fit enough for Manchester United.
SINGAM23
10
Forest gunned down by Gunners... good ☑️