arsenal struggled to hit top speed in a disappointing first half against Nottingham Forest this afternoon
The Gunners failed to register a shot on target in a forgettable opening 45 minutes despite having most of the possession at the City Ground.
the visitors, who were hoping to close the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester City to three pointsoffered very little going forward with Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze creating little.
Forest were without key midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White through injury but still created a first-half chance with Dan Ndoye firing a shot into the sideline after 20 minutes.
Arsenal responded by almost taking the lead from a corner seven minutes later. Forest failed to get hold of Saka’s delivery from the right, allowing Gabriel to attempt an audacious backheel that appeared to head before hitting fellow defender Ezri Konsa and Forest got the ball clear.
Arsenal had another chance seven minutes before the break. Saka won a free-kick with a stunning dive with minimal contact from Xaver Schlager and Declan Rice’s delivery was headed by Havertz when he surely should have done better.
Havertz then fired into the side-netting from a tight angle as Arsenal piled on the pressure near half-time.
