Nottingham Forest were thrashed 3-0 by Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday as the team’s unbeaten away record went up in smoke.
Nuno Espirito Santo was probably left with more questions than answers as Forest conceded three goals for the second successive Premier League game.
Forest went to the capital without Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson who were both ruled out through injury. Elsewhere, Chris Wood was only able to make the bench after returning from New Zealand on international duty.
The Reds were always up against it yesterday coming up against an Arsenal team who can ill-afford any more setbacks in their quest to win the Premier League title this season.
Mikel Arteta had some very kind words for Forest. However, he will be aware that his team were so much better than the Reds and he will be satisfied with how his team played.
Espirito Santo reciprocated the praise and he admitted he was blown away by some of the Arsenal players that his team came up against yesterday.
Nuno Espirito Santo raves about £21 million Arsenal star
The Gunners looked well rested after a two-week break with Bukayo Saka – fresh from withdrawing from England duty – looking the part as he tore Forest to shreds early on.
It was another player who caught the eye of Espirito Santo, however, with £21 million Leandro Trossard coming in for some praise from the Forest head coach.
He said in his press conference: “When their quality players are involved in the game and have a lot of participation, it becomes harder.
“Odegaard is one of them, but they also have good players in the wider areas. Trossard created a lot of problems and Saka created the same.”
Trossard gave Ola Aina a torrid time during heavy Forest defeat
Aina couldn’t get to grips with Trossard throughout the contest and being frank, there isn’t any shame in that given how good the former Brighton man is.
Trossard completed three successful dribbles, according to Who Scored, during the easy win for Arsenal and showcased why he’s been such a valued member of the team under Arteta.
Forest will have to dust themselves down quickly after this one. Beating Ipswich now looks like a must, with a run of incredibly tough fixtures to come after that contest next week.
Aina has been brilliant this season and he won’t be defined by one struggling performance when he picked up a yellow card against a team like Arsenal and against someone like Trossard.
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