Arsenal begin Premier League title challenge with three points but familiar sloppiness emerges

LONDON — Though the widespread refrain at the end of last season was that Arsenal had “bottled” the title, the truth was rather different. It wasn’t an overabundance of nerves that had cost Mikel Arteta’s side. If anything, it was the opposite, a team that did not fear their opposition enough.

In back-to-back road games in April, Arsenal raced into two-goal leads and concluded that they had Liverpool and West Ham beaten. Those draws set the league leaders on a path to second place and were no freakish results in a campaign of consistent assertiveness. Last season, only Fulham conceded more home goals when they were in the lead than the 11 let in by the Gunners. What ought to have been comfortable wins over the likes of Leeds, Crystal Palace and perhaps even Manchester United turned into grip-onto-your-seats-and-pray-for-deliverance scrabbles to the finish line

It is in that context that their opening day win needs to be viewed. From the outset, Arsenal had Nottingham Forest boxed into a corner. But all too often they were willing to settle for something less than outright domination. 

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Seventy-eight percent possession and 159 passes completed in the final third to 28 by their visitors was translated into 15 pretty low-value shots on Matt Turner’s goal. The buoyant Emirates Stadium when it finally filled up after a delayed kickoff was translated into a cauldron of tension after Taiwo Awoniyi turned home Anthony Elanga’s cross in the 82nd minute, just the fourth shot his team had registered but one that left them with a fair wedge more expected goals (xG), exactly one to the 0.56 that the leaders had registered. Those xG numbers don’t tell you who had the better match but they do show how little Arsenal did with their ascendancy.

“We were super dominant, we deserved to win the game, there’s no question of that,” said Arteta. “But when you are 2-0 up and have some chances to kill the game, we didn’t. Then we gave a very sloppy goal away, after being there and having a chance on the corner, to straight away, in two passes, concede a goal.

“When that happens in the league, game on. Every team has the resources and quality to create issues. It was more about the feeling than actually what happens. The reality is we didn’t concede anything but you are running the clock down and in this league that’s a very dangerous thing to do.”

Arsenal had had their warning beforehand. They might have reached the halftime whistle two goals to the good but the best chance had fallen to Brennan Johnson, puncturing the high line but lifting high and wide past Aaron Ramsdale’s goal. Individual brilliance from Gabriel Martinelli, setting up Eddie Nketiah’s opener with a pirouette that turned into a backheeled pass, and Bukayo Saka put the Gunners in cruise control but the hosts took a long time indeed to create the sort of chances that would test the shot-stopping chops of Turner.

Two goals to the good at the interval, Arsenal were all too happy to slow it down. That was evidently against the wishes of their manager.

“We spoke that when we were 2-0 up we want a very high rhythm game today,” he said, “we knew the pitch was going to get dry because it’s really hot and it was going to get slower.

“Everything against a low block with the Christmas tree (3-4-2-1) when it’s slow just benefits the opponent. We want to avoid those kind of games.”

For now, at least, results carry greater weight than performance, particularly when Arteta is clearly using these early contests to solve problems that haven’t even reared their head yet. Starting Thomas Partey on the right gave Arsenal their fullback that inverts in midfield but the presence of Ben White among the center backs brought with it a player who could bomb on to the byline despite his nominal role alongside the imperious William Saliba.

Across the field Kai Havertz, Declan Rice and Eddie Nketiah crashed the back post in unison, a gravitational force of their own that is sure to test opposition defenses. Saka didn’t need them on this team, bending the ball into the far corner rather than onto one of their heads. Meanwhile, ejilr Arsenal’s on-ball intensity left something to be desired, Gabriel Martinelli typified a real energy to snuff out Forest counters.

“Something I saw today that I really liked and I didn’t like so much when we played Monaco two weeks ago is that when he gave the ball away how he tracked back,” said Arteta. “This is the defining moment because when Gabi’s doing that backwards and then forwards he’s one of the best players and one of the most dangerous.”

It was the quality of Martinelli and Saka that ultimately won this game. It will surely secure many more victories from the next 37 games. However, Arteta will be acutely aware that his former club Manchester City were two goals to the good at the break against Burnley on Friday night but kept their hosts from even registering a shot before Rodri had netted the third. Perhaps Pep Guardiola’s standard is an unreasonable one to hold Arsenal to but it is the one they will need to reach if they are to win the league.