Arsenal leave the City Ground with points, but not a polished performance

Arsenal had 74% possession, completed 629 passes and still needed Noni Madueke to bail them out late in Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal. The visitors won 1-0 at the City Ground, but this was not a smooth away display. They had to wait until the 80th minute for their first shot on target, and it was Madueke's finish, described in some reports as deflected and in others as a shot that nicked off two Forest defenders, that finally settled it.

Madueke's late intervention

For most of the night, Arsenal had the ball without doing much with it. The control was obvious enough in the numbers, but the attack was blunt and the game kept drifting toward a frustrating stalemate.

Madueke changed that with 10 minutes left. His run from the left ended with the only Arsenal shot on target of the match and the only goal of it. BBC Sport's match report described it this way: "Noni Madueke broke the deadlock in a dull game as Arsenal squeezed past Nottingham Forest at the City Ground."

That was Madueke's first Premier League goal of the season, which adds to the sense that this was about impact rather than a sustained attacking plan. Mikel Arteta, quoted by SI.com, focused on the move itself: "Madueke’s driving run from the left produced a shot that nicked off two Forest defenders to beat the previously untested Matz Sels and hand Arsenal a lead they wouldn’t relinquish with 10 minutes to play."

The finish is the part everyone will remember, but the buildup matters too. Declan Rice provided the assist, his fourth in the Premier League this season, and Arsenal needed that kind of direct contribution because the rest of their possession had produced very little.

Possession without much threat

The raw numbers make Arsenal look in control. They had 74% of the ball and 629 passes, while Nottingham Forest still managed two shots on target. That is why calling this dominant would miss the shape of the game.

Arsenal's first shot on target did not arrive until the 80th minute. For a side with that much possession, that is a poor return, and it is the clearest reason the match felt like a slog rather than a statement win.

Forest were pinned back for long spells, but Arsenal did not turn territory into repeated clear openings. Even defensively, there was still work to do. Gabriel made six clearances, with no other Arsenal player making more than one, which gives a fair idea of where the visitors had to dig in when Forest did go forward.

David Raya was part of a back line that kept the score at 0-1, and Arsenal got the job done. Still, the bigger takeaway is not fluent football. It is that they stayed patient long enough for one substitute to decide it.

What the win really says

This result keeps Arsenal moving, and there is no point pretending every away win in a title race has to look polished. Some are just about surviving a sticky ground and taking the one chance that appears.

That was the story here. Arsenal had the ball, lacked edge for 79 minutes and then found it through Madueke. At the City Ground, the only shot on target they produced was enough to beat Forest 1-0.