Mikel Arteta acknowledged Arsenal should have been more lethal and killed the game off against Nottingham Forest. Forest lost 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium, despite a late push after Taiwo Awoniyi scored a consolation goal. Brennan Johnson saw himself through on goal early on after he latched on to a Willy Boly header, but failed to find the target. Boly also went close with a header while Awoniyi had an instant impact after coming on as a late substitute, giving the Reds a glimmer of hope. Steve Cooper’s side pressed late into stoppage time but couldn’t come away with a point. Gunners boss Arteta acknowledged his side should have put the game to bed early before giving the Reds’ late hope.
Mikel Arteta said: “It’s always difficult to win the first game of the season. We deserved to be in front but we didn’t kill the game. And 2-0 in the Premier League is a dangerous scoreline and we had a lack of concentration, conceded a goal, and so it is game on. You cannot give teams anything and we gave them hope. Then the feeling is we want the game to end and take the three points. Eddie Nketiah was very disappointed he did not start [the Community Shield] against Manchester City but came on and had a huge impact, trained like a beast this week, telling me ‘I have to play’. So I had to play him. A great example.”
