Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the Premier League after beating Hull City 1-0, while Manchester City lost 3-1 away to Nottingham Forest. After Saturday’s matches, the London champions have 27 points from 10 games, while Enzo Maresca’s side remain on 21.
At the Emirates, Martin Ødegaard settled the match in the 72nd minute. The captain reacted quickest after Noni Madueke’s shot was parried by Hull goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis. It was the Norwegian’s fifth goal of the season and Arsenal’s ninth victory in their first 10 league matches.
The victory did not come easily, however. Arsenal missed several chances, while the hosts were also unhappy with the VAR’s decision not to award a penalty for a foul on Kai Havertz. The “Standard” described the win as nervy, but highlighted Ødegaard’s role: he not only scored but also created five chances.
Arteta and the criticism over a lack of efficiency
Mikel Arteta admitted that his team need to be more clinical in the final third. “We need to be more efficient,” the manager said after the match. He pointed out that his players sometimes try to construct the “perfect goal” instead of acting more directly.
According to the “Independent”, Arteta has urged Arsenal to be both more pragmatic and more unpredictable in attack. The newspaper noted that the Londoners have won six of their 10 league matches by a single-goal margin, but that has not stopped the team from building a significant lead.
Manchester City collapse at Nottingham
Manchester City conceded three goals against Forest, who recorded their first home win of the season. Jair Cunha opened the scoring in the sixth minute, while Liam Delap doubled the lead in the 18th. Rayan Cherki pulled City back into the game with a powerful shot in the 52nd minute, but Delap ended hopes of a comeback with his second goal in the 73rd.
“You need desire and intensity to win the second balls and the duels. We did not match their intensity,” Maresca said, as quoted by the “Guardian”. He described the problem as a collective one and said the international break would be used to analyse the mistakes made.
Forest covered approximately six kilometres more than Manchester City, while British analysts drew attention to the visitors’ poor reaction for the second and third goals. Oliver Glasner said that his team had defended “passionately” and “tactically intelligently”.
Liam Delap, who is a former Manchester City player, said after the match that Forest had also played well in the previous weeks, but this time had been more decisive in front of goal. The defeat left City six points behind Arsenal and ended their run of seven consecutive wins at the start of the season.
The two teams head into the international break in contrasting moods. Arsenal will spend it as leaders on the back of five consecutive league victories, while Manchester City will have to halt a run of three defeats before resuming their challenge for top spot.
Sources: theguardian.com, independent.co.uk, sports.yahoo.com