ARSENAL struck late to beat Nottingham Forest and keep the pressure on Premier League leaders Manchester City on Sunday, while struggling Manchester United dropped more points in a draw at Leeds.
The Gunners faced Forest a day after pacesetters City celebrated a seventh win in seven games at home to Ipswich — shrugging off the fallout from the club’s guilty verdict for serious financial irregularities.
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Defending champions Arsenal huffed and puffed against Oliver Glasner’s struggling side but finally secured the breakthrough when substitute Noni Madueke’s effort found the net in the 80th minute after a deflection off Jair Cunha.
The goal was Arsenal’s only shot on target in a disjointed performance that lacked attacking quality, but they are showing an impressive ability to grind out results when not at their best.
The 1-0 victory moved Mikel Arteta’s side back up to second in the table, three points behind leaders City, while Forest, who failed to capitalise on a clutch of late chances, are now in the relegation zone.
“We had to earn it until the last second,” Arteta told the BBC. “They are a well-coached team and hard to break down.
“We had to take risks, they are a dangerous team. We had to manage the emotional part really well. We stayed focused and the finishers made a huge impact.”
Earlier, Manchester United travelled to the home of bitter rivals Leeds desperate to find a spark but were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw after Dominic Calvert-Lewin cancelled out Bryan Mbeumo’s first-half opener.
United have just one win in seven league games this season and are winless in their past six matches in all competitions.
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Manager Michael Carrick — in his first full season in charge — is scrambling for answers, with his team looking short of quality and confidence.
The sense of a growing crisis at Old Trafford was exacerbated by a midweek outburst from defender Lisandro Martinez, who took aim at the United hierarchy after a 2-0 defeat at Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.
Carrick chose to focus on the positives after Sunday’s game at Elland Road, insisting that the draw was a step in the right direction.
“If there’s any weakness, it gets found out today,” he told Sky Sports.
“I could feel before the game that the players were ready for it. It wasn’t perfect, our confidence isn’t sky-high, but the players were trying to do the right things.
“In moments we looked really good. Defended really well as a team.”
Argentina centre-back Martinez gave an explosive interview in Spain on Tuesday, during which he criticised the lack of investment in the summer transfer window.
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Carrick insisted on Friday that United had “moved on” from the incident and Martinez was named in the starting line-up.
Mbeumo, playing as United’s target man, wasted a couple of chances but broke the deadlock in the 35th minute when he guided a Youri Tielemans cross into the bottom corner for his fourth goal of the season.
