Martin Zubimendi scored twice on his home debut as Arsenal brushed aside Nottingham Forest with a ruthless 3-0 win at the Emirates.
All eyes were on Ange Postecoglou in his first game in charge of Forest, but the former Spurs boss was left frustrated again by Mikel Arteta, who has now beaten him four times out of five.
Arsenal were on the front foot from the off. Noni Madueke, standing in for the injured Bukayo Saka, terrorised Forest left-back Morato every time he got the ball. His whipped corners caused chaos and it was from one of them that the breakthrough came. Chris Wood’s header fell kindly to Zubimendi, who smashed a volley past Matz Sels with the help of a deflection.
Forest’s best chance came when Morgan Gibbs-White dragged wide from inside the box, but that was as good as it got for the visitors. One minute after the restart Eberechi Eze, making his first Arsenal start, slid in Viktor Gyokeres to score from close range. The contest was over and it got worse for Forest when Zubimendi nodded in his second from Leandro Trossard’s cross.
Arteta will be thrilled with the response after the Liverpool defeat before the international break. His side were missing key men, including William Saliba and Bukayo Saka, while captain Martin Odegaard limped off early with a shoulder problem. Even so, the Gunners looked sharp, with Madueke outstanding on the right and earning a standing ovation when he was subbed late on.
Cristhian Mosquera impressed alongside Gabriel in defence and David Raya marked his 100th Arsenal appearance with another clean sheet, his 42nd for the club.
Postecoglou has had little time with his new squad after being appointed on Tuesday and it showed. Forest pressed high early but were forced back and offered little going forward. Their poor record at Arsenal continued with just two wins in their last 17 meetings, both of those at the City Ground.
The Forest boss now has to regroup quickly with a Carabao Cup clash against Swansea on Wednesday, but this was a brutal reminder of the size of the task ahead.