Noni Madueke struck late to give Arsenal a 1-0 victory at Nottingham Forest, with the reigning champions overcoming an untidy performance to reduce Manchester City’s lead at the top of the Premier League.
Mikel Arteta’s team were far from fluent at the City Ground and failed to hit the target until Madueke delivered the decisive finish with 10 minutes remaining.
There was little glamour about the Gunners’ display in the East Midlands, but the result mattered most as they moved to within three points of leaders City, who defeated Ipswich 3-2 on Saturday.
Arsenal, in second place, have now responded strongly to their surprise 3-0 defeat at Brighton on September 19 by winning three matches in a row.
That sequence included Premier League success against Leeds and a Champions League win over Lille before this battling triumph beside the River Trent.
The north London club have yet to rediscover the unrelenting form that carried them to their first championship in 22 years last season.
However, they still possess the vital capacity to win without playing well, and this marked their sixth victory from seven league fixtures.
Arsenal travel to Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday, before welcoming Everton in the Premier League next weekend.
Forest, who sit third from bottom, have won only two of their past 17 home league matches. Manager Oliver Glasner has also claimed just one win in seven top-flight games since arriving during the close season.
Bukayo Saka’s delivery prompted Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels to scramble back and push the ball away from beneath his crossbar, yet Arsenal could not find any early flow in a disjointed contest.
Forest’s Dan Ndoye forced Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya into action after arriving at the far post.
One of the visitors’ few dangerous moments saw Kai Havertz shoot into the side netting from a tight angle after Martin Odegaard’s pass exposed the Forest back line.
Arteta became more visibly irritated in his technical area as an uninspiring first half drifted to its conclusion.
Eberechi Eze was the casualty of Arsenal’s sluggish showing, with the England international replaced by Madueke at half-time.
The substitution initially brought little change, and Forest forward Liam Delap drove narrowly wide after powering forward on a surging run.
Arsenal moved the ball too slowly and offered too little attacking threat, leading Arteta to send on Mikel Merino, Viktor Gyokeres and Jurrien Timber in an attempt to lift his side.
Bruno Guimaraes was among those taken off after another disappointing outing from the Brazilian midfielder, who was making only his second league start since joining from Newcastle in the summer.
Gabriel Magalhaes headed a Declan Rice corner over the bar, while Delap failed to test Raya properly after being found by Xaver Schlager.
Odegaard released Timber, whose cutback found Declan Rice in the Forest penalty area, but the midfielder sent his effort high over the bar in a moment that summed up Arsenal’s lack of cutting edge.
It was Arsenal’s first Premier League game since 2023 in which they had gone 70 minutes without registering a shot on target.
They eventually broke Forest’s resistance in the 80th minute. Madueke came inside from the left and struck fiercely, with his shot taking a substantial deflection off Forest defender Jair Cunha before flying beyond Sels.
Forest almost rescued a point late on when Murillo unleashed a powerful effort that flashed just over the crossbar.
