Bukayo Saka's sensational 25-yard strike helped Arsenal to a narrow 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest in the pair's first Premier League game of the new season.
Proceedings at the Emirates Stadium were delayed by half an hour as Arsenal's new digital ticketing caused chaos, leaving fans unable to get into the ground. The slated 12.30pm kick-off time was eventually pushed back, allowing the ground to fill up before the action got underway.
Jurrien Timber, Declan Rice and Kai Havertz all started for Mikel Arteta's Arsenal, with Eddie Nketiah up front in a side brimming with attacking talent, while Nottingham Forest started the game with Brennan Johnson up front, supported in the front areas by Morgan Gibbs-White and Danilo.
Johnson actually had the first clear-cut chance of the game, racing through onto Willy Boly's header forward, but he inexplicably fired high and wide when through one-on-one with Aaron Ramsdale.
The Welsh forward would regret that miss 15 minutes later as Arsenal, who started the game slowly, clicked into gear. Gabriel Martinelli showed a great change of pace to get down the outside of Serge Aurier before a superb roulette turn saw the ball break to Eddie Nketiah. He shifted the ball in-field and fired a deflected low shot beyond former Arsenal reserve goalkeeper Matt Turner.
Saka then showed his limitless talent six minutes later with a glorious second goal. The 21-year-old picked the ball up in the right channel, shifted it onto his favoured foot and bent a stupendous effort past the forlorn Turner the ball into the top corner.
It wasn't all good news for Arsenal - Timber limped off in the early exchanges of the second half after a sudden, worrying jolt of his knee - as despite dominating possession, they failed to kill the game off.
Forest, having offered little to nothing, burst into life after Taiwo Awoniyi and Anthony Elanga were introduced late in the second half, and the pair combined superbly to halve the deficit - former Manchester United winger Elanga squaring the ball after breaking at pace for Awoniyi to powerfully slam home from close range.
Morgan Gibbs-White then fired over as the game opened up but Arsenal clung on to clinch an, in the end, hard-earned three points.
Arsenal player ratings vs Nottingham Forest (4-3-3)
GK: Aaron Ramsdale - 6/10 - A couple of simple saves early on before his concentration levels had to up after Awoniyi's goal.
RB: Thomas Partey - 6/10 - Asked to operate in a slightly different role to usual but adapted well. Tucked into midfield throughout.
CB: Ben White - 7/10 - Looks so comfortable in whatever role he's asked to play. Arguably Arsenal's most important defender at the moment.
CB: William Saliba - 6/10 - Comfortable for much of the afternoon until Forest suddenly piled the pressure on late.
LB: Jurrien Timber - 6/10 - Untroubled from a defensive point of view and then suffered a worrying-looking knee injury.
DM: Declan Rice - 6/10 - Used to being the star of the show at West Ham but a completely different role here. Roamed forward more than he's used to.
CM: Martin Odegaard (c) - 7/10 - Nobody created more chances for Arsenal than Odegaard last season and the Norwegian was again bright in that regard.
CM: Kai Havertz - 6/10 - Moved into the channels when Martinelli came short and was effective enough at ticking things over.
RW: Bukayo Saka - 8/10 - Stepped up into the world class category last season and scored a world class goal here. What a talent Arsenal and England have.
CF: Eddie Nketiah - 7/10 - Only seems to score goals when Mikel Arteta hands him starts. Smart finish aided by a deflection off Joe Worrall.
LW: Gabriel Martinelli - 8/10 - "He can be unplayable at times," the words of TNT Sports commentator Darren Fletcher after a trademark Martinelli breakaway in the first half. He wasn't wrong.
Substitutes
SUB: Takehiro Tomiyasu (49' for Timber) - 6/10 - One effort from distance when Arsenal were 2-0 up but attention then switched to defending the lead.
SUB: Leandro Trossard (73' for Nketiah) - 6/10
SUB: Gabriel (86' for Martinelli) - N/A
Subs not used: Hein (GK), Kiwior, Jorginho, Vieira, Smith Rowe, Nelson
Manager
Mikel Arteta - 6/10 - Bold team selection looked to have paid off when Arsenal got themselves two goals up. The Spaniard's side didn't go for the jugular though, with Forest's late rally scaring the life out of the Gunners. An early lesson learned.
Nottingham Forest player ratings vs Arsenal (3-4-2-1)
GK: Matt Turner - 7/10 - Didn't have enough time to react to Worrall deflecting Nketiah's shot and had no chance with Saka's. Showed good hands to save a couple of long range efforts and superbly tipped Declan Rice's effort onto the post.
CB: Willy Boly - 5/10 - Dragged out of position to cope with the threat of Martinelli - was only ever going to be one winner in that battle. Should have done better with a header from a corner.
CB: Joe Worrall (c) - 6/10 - Made a couple of good crossing interceptions running back towards his own goal. Unlucky not to block Nketiah's effort for the opener.
CB: Scott McKenna - 6/10 - It's never a fun afternoon coming up against Odegaard and Saka, and McKenna did well for the most part.
RM: Serge Aurier - 4/10 - The former Tottenham man struggled to cope with the electrifying Martinelli once he got going. Will have better days against lesser opposition.
CM: Ryan Yates - 6/10 - Sat deep and tried to condense space but not able to really offer Forest much.
CM: Orel Mangala - 6/10 - Spent most of the afternoon maintaining defensive shape, watching Arsenal attempt to break the lines. Booked for a tactical foul on Odegaard.
LM: Ola Aina - 6/10 - Fared pretty well against Saka considering the scale of the task. Tried to get forward and support in attack but opportunities were few and far between. Booked.
AM: Morgan Gibbs-White - 5/10 - Will undoubtedly win Forest plenty of points throughout the course of the season, but this wasn't his day. Fired over a hard chance late on.
AM: Danilo - 5/10 - Full of running but not able to produce much end product without the ball at his feet.
CF: Brennan Johnson - 5/10 - Missed a glorious chance to open the scoring for Forest, showing a lack of composure at just the wrong time.
Substitutes
SUB: Neco Williams (72' for Aina) - 6/10
SUB: Taiwo Awoniyi (72' for Danilo) - 7/10 - A lung bursting run on the counter allowed Awoniyi to get Forest back into the game. Could be a key man this season.
SUB: Anthony Elanga (80' for Johnson) - 7/10 - Terrific impact off the bench, showing a great burst of pace to keep Partey at bay.
SUB: Chris Wood (90' for Worrall) - N/A
SUB: Cheikhou Kouyate (90' for Mangala) - N/A
Subs not used: Horvath (GK), Niakhate, Freuler, O'Brien
Manager
Steve Cooper - 6/10 - Cooper's side were passive for much of the game, perhaps knowing they needed to try and up the tempo late on and catch Arsenal cold. Spirit will offer plenty of encouragement.
Player of the Match: Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
This article was originally published on 90min as Arsenal 2-1 Nottingham Forest: Player ratings as Saka stunner aids tight Gunners win.
