Madueke's impact-sub habit extends Forest's home goal drought under Glasner
Noni Madueke's deflected strike settled a scrappy City Ground contest, handing Nottingham Forest a third straight defeat and deepening Oliver Glasner's home-form puzzle.
Noni Madueke's 80th-minute strike settled a largely uneventful Premier League contest at the City Ground on Sunday, giving Arsenal a 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest and leaving Oliver Glasner's side without a home win in the league.
The goal came from Arsenal's bench. Madueke, who had replaced Eberechi Eze at half-time, cut in from the left, went past Daniel Munoz and found the far corner, with the finish taking a heavy deflection off Jair Cunha on its way in, according to The Analyst.
It was a rare moment of quality in a match short of them. The Analyst's data shows the two sides combined for just one shot on target before Madueke's intervention, with Forest managing two efforts on goal across the full 90 minutes to Arsenal's one — the winner itself.
Why Madueke keeps doing this away from home
The numbers behind the goal say as much about Madueke's profile as the match itself. The Analyst reports that 13 of his 17 Premier League goals have come away from home, a 76% share that is the highest of any player with at least 15 league goals in the competition's history.
Every one of his four goals for Arsenal has also come on the road, continuing a pattern that long predates his move to north London. That consistency away from the Emirates suggests a player who thrives in matches where his team sits deeper and looks to break at pace into space left by a home side pushing for a goal of its own — exactly the shape Forest's second-half approach created.
There is a timing element too. The Analyst notes that three of Madueke's last five Premier League goals have opened the scoring in the match, underlining his value as a substitute capable of changing a stalemate rather than simply adding gloss to a game already won.
Arsenal were not fluent before he arrived. Kai Havertz headed over from a Declan Rice free-kick in a quiet first half, and chances were otherwise scarce. Gabriel Magalhães headed over from a corner after the break, and Rice blazed over from inside the box, but the champions were, by The Analyst's own description, largely flat for long stretches at the City Ground.
Forest's familiar frustration in front of their own fans
Forest were the sharper side immediately after the interval. Liam Delap, deployed through the middle, almost teed up Neco Williams, and David Hytner of the Guardian singled out Delap's performance in the No 9 role as one of the game's genuine positives for the home side.
That early second-half spell did not translate into goals, and the cost of missing that period became clear late on. Ezri Konsa's recovery challenge denied Delap a clear sight of goal in the closing stages, the moment that effectively ended Forest's hopes of a leveller.
Murillo, marking his 100th Forest appearance, fired just over following a strong individual run, while Rice had earlier denied Chris Wood a free shot as Arsenal weathered Forest's late pressure to see the game out.
The wider pattern is what will concern Glasner most. The Guardian reports that Forest had still to score at the City Ground under his management, and Sunday's defeat marked the fifth occasion in all competitions on which his side failed to find the net in front of their own supporters.
Arsenal, by contrast, had drawn blank in each of their previous two visits to the City Ground before this win, per the Guardian, making Madueke's late strike notable as much for breaking that specific pattern as for its impact on this match.
Three straight defeats now leave Forest searching for answers at home, with Glasner's attacking approach yet to be rewarded with a goal that home fans have actually seen go in. For Arsenal, an unconvincing display was enough, a reminder that a squad with Madueke's finishing on the bench does not need to be at its best to take three points on the road.