Mikel Arteta delighted with Arsenal win over Nottingham Forest but rues late lapse in concentration

Mikel Arteta was delighted with how his Arsenal side played in their 2-1 victory to kickstart their 2023-24 Premier League campaign but bemoaned the lapse in concentration that gave Nottingham Forest a late lifeline to set up a nervy final 10 minutes at the Emirates.

After kick-off was delayed by 30 minutes due to an electronic ticketing issue, The Gunners struggled to break down the well-organised Forest defence before a moment of magic from Gabriel Martinelli set up Eddie Nketiah in the 25th minute.

That appeared to open the floodgates as seven minutes later Bukayo Saka unleashed a screamer from 25 yards that gave Matt Turner no chance in the Forest goal as the hosts went through the gears.

But Steve Cooper’s side kept their arrears at two and then hit back, launching a rapid counter from an Arsenal corner as Anthony Elanga ran almost the length of the field before teeing up Taiwo Awoniyi in the 82nd minute.

That was as good as it got for the visitors as Arsenal saw the game out, but Arteta was critical that his side gave their opponents a glimmer of hope.

“First of all, really happy,” Arteta told TNT Sports. “It’s always difficult to win the first game, it’s always very difficult to win in the Premier League, so we should be very happy, especially the way we played.

“I think we deserved to win the game, we merit more and earlier but we didn’t kill the game and 2-0 in the Premier League is a very dangerous result.

“We have a lack of concentration on the counter after the corner, they score a goal and then it is game on, and they throw a lot of bodies in there.

“We didn’t concede anything, but the feeling was that we want the game to end and earn the three points.”

He added: “You cannot give anything and today we gave them some hope, and we gave them the goal, and when that happens against teams in the Premier League, you cannot do that.

“And this team is so well organised, they are so competitive, they are so physical when they want to and they don’t need much to score a goal.”

Saka’s stunning strike rightly grabbed the headlines as he opened his account with an early goal-of-the-season contender, but Arteta singled out Nketiah for praise for the way he responded to being left out of the starting line-up in the Community Shield win over Manchester City.

“Well that’s a clear example of what we’re going to need this season,” Arteta said. “He’s a player that was very disappointed because I didn’t start him against Manchester City and what he did was come on in the game and had a huge impact against City, trained like a beast this week, telling me, ‘I deserve to play’.

“So I had to play him because he gave me every reason with his reaction. And when that happens, you come to the pitch and you score and you play the way he’s done, so great example.”

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