Arsenal, kept in check by a team fighting for relegation » “The Gunners” miss the chance to break away decisively from Manchester City!

The full schedule of round #22 of the Premier League

After the white draw in the previous round against the champions Liverpool, the current Premier League leader and also the main favorite to win the title, recorded an identical result against the modest Nottingham Forest, a team that represents only a shadow of the revelation of the last season.

Arsenal held in check by Nottingham at the City Ground

As expected, the “gunners” categorically dominated the duel at the City Ground, having clearly superior numbers to the “foresters” in all chapters. However, Mikel Arteta's men were unable to put the ball in the net. Not even from set-pieces, an aspect Arsenal excel at.

There was one moment, however, that looked like it would finally bring victory to the Londoners. In the 80th minute of the meeting, Michael Oliver was called to the VAR monitor to decide whether or not to award a penalty for Arsenal, after the visitors vehemently accused a possible foul committed by Ola Aina in his own box.

After reviewing the phase, however, the English “central” made the decision not to award a penalty kick for the Premier League leader, and thus, the final score of the game remained 0-0.

Following this result, the “gunners” accumulated 50 points and wasted the chance to distance themselves nine lengths from Manchester City, who lost today on the field of the rival United, score 0-2.

At the moment, Mikel Arteta's side are seven lengths clear at the top of the table over both the Citizens and Aston Villa. The group from Birmingham will play tomorrow, however, and in the event of success, the gap with Arsenal will be reduced to just four points.

On the other hand, Dyche's “foresters” reached the post with number 22 and currently occupy 17th place in the standings, the first position above the red line.

In the next stage of the Premier League, Arsenal will have a tough match with Manchester United in London, while Nottingham will perform at Brentford's ground.

Until then, however, the leader from England will face Chivu's Inter in the Champions League, in another gala match. The match will take place on Tuesday, January 20, in Milan, from 22:00.

Premier League standings:

Nottingham Forest – Arsenal » Starting teams:

NOTTINGHAM FOREST (4-3-3): Sels – Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams – Anderson, Sangare, Dominguez – Gibbs-White, I. Jesus, Hudson-Odoi
reserves: Gunn – Awoniyi, Hutchinson, D. Luiz, McAtee, Morato, Ndoye, Savona, Yates
Coach: Sean Dyche

ARSENAL (4-3-3): Raya – White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber – Odegaard, Zubimendi, Rice – Madueke, Gyokeres, Martinelli
reserves: Kepa – Eze, Havertz, G. Jesus, Lewis-Skelly, Merino, Mosquera, Saka, Trossard
Coach: Mikel Arteta

Stadium: City Ground (Nottingham)
Referee: Michael Oliver