Soccer-Slow-starting Arsenal make patience pay against Forest

Soccer Football - Premier League - Nottingham Forest v Arsenal - The City Ground, Nottingham, Britain - October 18, 2026 Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta applauds fans after the match Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff

LONDON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Arsenal are gaining ⁠a reputation as slow starters this season, but their ability to find a way ⁠through tight games helped them earn a 1-0 win against Nottingham Forest on Sunday ‌and keep their Premier League title defence on track.

Arsenal's total of 11 league goals from seven games is the second-lowest in the top six, eight behind leaders Manchester City and a whopping 12 behind third-placed Brighton & Hove Albion.

Eight of those ​11 strikes have come after halftime and they again struggled ⁠for attacking fluency in the opening 45 ⁠minutes against Forest before substitute Noni Madueke's deflected 80th-minute strike secured the points.

The goal came from ⁠Arsenal's ‌first shot on target and kept Mikel Arteta's side in touch with table-toppers City.

"The longer the game goes on, they have more belief. You have to take more risks, and ⁠that's when the game can break," an upbeat Arteta told ​Sky Sports.

Madueke said Arsenal might ‌not have won such a game last season but now possessed greater belief and resilience.

"At ⁠times maybe last ​year, this game might have not gone as it did for us in the end, but I think we got that extra belief, that extra mentality now," he said.

"We know we're the champions, and we know ⁠we can pull out the bag wherever we go, and ​just delighted that we're able to do it today."

Arsenal looked toothless in the first half and although they were sharper after the break, it still took until the 80th minute for Madueke to produce ⁠the effort that finally broke the hosts' resistance.

The 24-year-old, who came off the bench at the break to replace Eberechi Eze, said Arsenal's squad depth was proving to be one of their main strengths this season.

"If you look at the quality of our starting 11 and bench it's absurd, so ​we know that we're going to start some and finish some (games) ⁠and for me it's the same mentality every time, I just want to create or score.Amazing feeling (to ​score), but I feel better about the win," he said.

"We have ‌elite players, all 20-something players are elite and ​of the highest level. It's great to have that type of competition, you know on the bench you're ready to have an impact."

(Reporting by Philip O'ConnorEditing by Toby Davis)

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足球 - 英超联赛 - 诺丁汉森林对阵阿森纳 - 英国诺丁汉城市球场 - 2026年10月18日 阿森纳主教练米克尔·阿尔特塔赛后向球迷鼓掌致意。（图片来自路透社/Jason Cairnduff）

伦敦，10 月 18 日（路透社）——阿森纳本赛季一直以慢热著称，但他们在胶着的比赛中总能找到取胜之道，这帮助他们在周日以 1-0 战胜诺丁汉森林，并保持了他们卫冕英超冠军的势头。

阿森纳在七场联赛中总共只打进 11 个球，在前六名中排名倒数第二，比领头羊曼城少了 8 个球，比排名第三的布莱顿少了惊人的 12 个球。

这 11 个进球中有 8 个是在下半场打进的，他们在对阵诺丁汉森林的比赛前 45 分钟进攻再次陷入困境，直到替补球员诺尼·马杜埃克在第 80 分钟的折射进球才确保了球队的胜利。

这个进球来自阿森纳的第一次射正，也让阿尔特塔的球队继续紧追榜首球队曼城。

“比赛时间越长，他们的信心就越强。你必须承担更多风险，而这正是比赛局势可能出现转机的时候，”乐观的阿尔特塔告诉天空体育。

马杜埃克表示，阿森纳上赛季可能赢不了这样的比赛，但现在他们拥有了更大的信念和韧性。

“去年，这场比赛的最终结果可能对我们不利，但我认为我们现在有了额外的信念和心态，”他说。

“我们知道我们是冠军，我们也知道无论走到哪里我们都能赢球，很高兴今天我们能够做到这一点。”

阿森纳上半场进攻乏力，虽然下半场有所起色，但直到第 80 分钟，马杜埃克才打入制胜球，最终打破了主队的防线。

这位 24 岁的球员在中场休息时替补埃贝雷奇·埃泽上场，他表示，阿森纳的阵容深度是本赛季他们的主要优势之一。

“看看我们首发11人和替补的实力，简直令人难以置信。所以我们知道我们会首发一些比赛，也会赢下一些比赛。对我来说，每次的心态都一样，我只想创造机会或者进球。进球的感觉很棒，但我更喜欢赢球，”他说。

“我们队里都是精英球员，所有二十多岁的球员都是精英，水平一流。这种竞争氛围很棒，你知道即使坐在替补席上，你也随时准备发挥作用。”

（菲利普·奥康纳报道，托比·戴维斯编辑）

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