Madueke shines again: Arsenal player ratings as Gunners secure comfortable win over Nottingham Forest | OneFootball

Arsenal put their defeat to Liverpool behind them as they cruised to a 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest.

Despite missing several stars through injury, Mikel Arteta’s side made light work of new Forest head coach Ange Postecoglou’s men, with Martin Zubimendi scoring twice and Viktor Gyokeres getting the other.

Here are our player ratings from a comfortable afternoon’s work for Arsenal…

David Raya: 7

100 games for Arsenal and a 42nd clean sheet. It was a comfortable afternoon for the Spaniard, who did not make a single save in the first half, but when called upon to deny Chris Wood’s innocuous effort, Raya managed to pull off a top save.

Jurrien Timber: 7

Another solid performance from the Dutch full-back, who was a constant threat on the overlap alongside Noni Madueke. Dealt with any threat Forest threw at him, and drove forward well.

Cristhian Mosquera: 7

In his first start for Arsenal, he filled the void left by the injured William Saliba with ease. His composure and ability on the ball was clearly something that settled the rest of the Gunners defence and he was on hand to put an end to any Forest attacks.

Gabriel: 7

Solid. Nothing special from the Brazilian but these are the types of performances expected from one of the best defenders in the Premier League. His relationship alongside Cristhian Mosquera looks to have taken little to develop.

Riccardo Calafiori: 7

A needless yellow card for pulling back a Forest player was the only blight on yet another convincing performance from the Italian, who is going strength to strength. To highlight his all action display, at some points Calafiori was playing at right wing.

Martin Zubimendi: 8

Dictated play from the base of midfield. He was one of the Gunners’ standout players and broke the deadlock with a superb volley from the edge of the box, before capping off his performance with a wonderful header late in the second half. Shows he has more to his game than just his passing and defending.

Mikel Merino: 6.5

Solid, reliable and dependable. That is what Merino was today. The Spaniard was pushed further forward by Mikel Arteta and his runs to the back post always had Forest on red alert. A good overall performance.

Martin Odegaard: 6

An early casualty after landing on his shoulder after a Morgan Gibbs-White challenge, and had to go off.

Eberechi Eze: 7

It was a tale of two halves for Arsenal’s £60m man. Rarely on the ball in the opening stages but he announced himself with a well executed assist for Viktor Gyokeres right at the start of the second period.

Noni Madueke: 8

Outstanding. He continued where he left off with England, causing Forest’s backline countless problems with his direct dribbling and pace. His deliveries from corners were always on the money, and should have been finished off by his teammates.

Viktor Gyokeres: 7

Struggled in the first half, with loose touches and wayward shots, but the Swede made up for it at the start of the second half with a well-taken finish. From then on, his strength and pace were no match for the Forest defence, before his substitution with 20 minutes to go.

Substitutes

Ethan Nwaneri (17th minute): 6 – Came on for the injured Odegaard. Nwaneri was comfortable in the game, and that was it. Not a bad game from the youngster, but nothing special.

Declan Rice (68th minute): 6 – Solid and did the job that was asked of him to see out the win.

Myles Lewis-Skelly (68th minute): 6 – Filled into Calafiori’s role with ease, such was Arsenal’s dominance.

Gabriel Martinelli (78th minute): 6 – Full of energy when he entered the pitch but not much involvement, as Arsenal looked to see out the game by this point.

Leandro Trossard (78th minute): 6 – It took Trossard less than a minute to get involved in the match, with his cross to the back post being headed in by Martin Zubimendi.