Forget Madueke: Jurrien Timber was Arsenal's real game changer against Forest

After a drab first half at the City Ground on Sunday afternoon, Arsenal managed to emerge from the East Midlands with all three points, in large part due to the impact made by Mikel Arteta's substitutes.

The Gunners ran out 1-0 winners against Oliver Glasner's stubborn Nottingham Forest, courtesy of a deflected Noni Madueke strike in the 80th minute. For long periods, the North Londoners struggled to break down Forest's compact low block and ultimately had to rely on a stroke of luck to secure the points.

For the third game running, the strength of Arteta's squad told. Those introduced into the game in the second half made the difference, changing the complexion of Arsenal's stale attack by providing fresh impetus.

Madueke grabbed the headlines with his goal and general dynamism from the left-hand side, and while praise for the divisive winger is justified, Jurrien Timber was arguably the primary difference-maker on the day.

Jurrien Timber was outstanding off the bench vs Nottingham Forest

Ben White struggled in the opening hour before he was replaced by Timber. The Englishman has enjoyed a largely positive start to the new season, but his influence has waned in recent matches.

Forest were evidently cognisant of the threat White's triangular passing patterns with Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard can pose, and they made sure to negate this threat. Daniel Munoz and Jair Cunha were tight to Arsenal's right-sided players, doubling up on Saka and White every time the ball was switched to this flank.

This made it difficult for the Gunners to engineer anything of note down this side, while the focus on positioning as many players as close to Saka as possible meant the left-hand side became isolated. Eberechi Eze was receiving the ball wide on the touchline, with nobody within ten yards of him at all times.

Arteta made a tweak to his midfield in the second half to combat this issue. Declan Rice was moved and stationed in the left-half space, providing Madueke with someone to combine with, which gave Forest something to think about down Arsenal's left. This subsequently created more space for the Gunners' right-siders, although White still wasn't able to influence the game.

Timber, on the other hand, instantly made a difference in the final third. Combining with Saka and Odegaard, the Dutchman perfectly timed a run in behind before cutting the ball back to Rice, who shot wildly over. This moment came less than ten minutes after Timber's introduction and was the best move and chance Arsenal created in the entire 90 minutes.

White often struggles when receiving the ball with his back to goal in tight spaces in the final third. Naturally a defender, he doesn't have the mobility or agility to work his way out of difficult positions to retain the ball.

Timber excels in this specific aspect of the game, and this meant that Arsenal were better able to sustain waves of attack once he was on the pitch. This constant pressure in the period after Timber came on in the 65th minute is what ultimately led to the winning goal.

Arsenal were able to pen Forest in, whilst looking significantly more threatening down the right, once they had their heroic Dutch full-back on the pitch.

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