3 positives and negatives from Arsenal's battling 2-1 win away to Nottingham Forest

Despite a nervy end to the game, Arsenal picked up a well-earned three points away to Nottingham Forest in a 2-1 win.

Arsenal dominated large spells of the contest but were met with fierce resistance against a well-organised Nottingham Forest low-block.

The first half saw the Gunners enjoy a staggering 81% possession but, despite this, we managed just a single shot on target and entered the break goalless, and in a far-from-comfortable position in the game.

We saw similar signs in the second half but, following the introduction of Taiwo Awoniyi, the hosts offered more after the interval and began to ask questions of the Arsenal defence.

Mikel Arteta's side eventually took the lead through a superb Gabriel Jesus finish in the 65th minute, before Bukayo Saka doubled our advantage just seven minutes later.

Despite conceding late on, which created a much tenser end to the game than many would have liked, Arsenal held on and claimed all three points.

3 positives and negatives from Arsenal's battling 2-1 win away to Nottingham Forest

We learnt a lot throughout the game and saw plenty of promising football, but also worrying signs. With that said, here are the positives and negatives from the game.

Positive #1: Ability to control the game

Arsenal have often found the City Ground a difficult place to go to, losing our last three games there before this win.

That made our ability to dictate and control this game all the more impressive, with the hosts failing to find a single shot on target in the first half while being made to settle for just 19% of possession.

Even in the second period, when the hosts looked more threatening, we dealt with almost every threat posed to us, until the dying embers, and continued to dictate exactly how the game played out, which is a testament to the players, especially in such a testing environment, and will be warmly welcomed ahead of a tough run of games.

Negative #1: Another lapse of concentration

We saw, not for the first time this season, a routine win thrown into doubt after a seeming lapse of concentration late in the game as we gave Nuno Espirito Santo's side a frankly undeserved lifeline on the stroke of injury time.

Despite controlling the game for the most part, it was incredibly frustrating to see the contest blown into life so late on, out of nothing but a lapse of concentration, or perhaps complacency - with the hosts' goal being something of a gift for them in the end.

It is just the latest continuation of a worrying trend and something that Arteta needs to address quickly to avoid it costing us points in future games, as it so nearly did against Forest.

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