It’s five past Forest as Arsenal overcome Saka injury and early jitters
The Independent|October 31, 2022
It wasn't quite a day when absolutely everything went for Arsenal, given Bukayo Saka's concerning injury, but even that ended up bringing a different solution. Mikel Arteta surprisingly opted for Reiss Nelson to come on for his first Premier League game of the season, and the forward scored his first Premier League goal in two and a half years, before quickly following with another to drive the league leaders to an easy 5-0 win over Nottingham Forest.
MIGUEL DELANEY
It’s five past Forest as Arsenal overcome Saka injury and early jitters

Arsenal 5

Martinelli (5), Nelson (49, 52), Partey (57), Odegaard (78) 

Nottingham Forest 0

It was exactly the kind of impact both he and Arsenal needed. A team whose lead at the top of the Premier League was looking increasingly fragile because it was struggling to score, suddenly enjoyed relief, release and a lot of flowing moves. A brilliant youth talent whose career looked like it had stalled suddenly suggested he can be a big player for this team again.

Nelson, who was basically Jadon Sancho's equal while both were teenagers coming through the ranks, now potentially offers Arsenal a lot of tactical options as well as badly needed depth. That could be crucial as they try to keep ahead of the Manchester City machine, or even in any Champions League race.

This story is from the October 31, 2022 edition of The Independent.

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This story is from the October 31, 2022 edition of The Independent.

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