Arsenal player ratings vs Nottingham Forest: Viktor Gyokeres struggles but Declan Rice a bright spark

Arsenal missed the chance to move nine points clear of Manchester City as they were held to a draw by Nottingham Forest on Saturday night.

Pep Guardiola’s side were beaten by bitter rivals Manchester United from the kick-off, but Arsenal failed to capitalize on their stumble, leaving the door open for Aston Villa to gain ground in the title race as they host Everton on Sunday.

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The Gunners toiled throughout the first half and Mikel Arteta made four changes before the hour mark. His side slowly improved but could not get the better of the inspired Matz Sels in the Forest goal.

Arthur Ferrridge was present at the City Ground to assess Arsenal’s performance…

David Raya 6

Ran about 30 yards from his line to beat Callum Hudson-Odoi on a through ball in the first half, but nearly produced a screamer as he did the same later in the first half. The distribution was hit or miss, but overall it went well.

Jurrien Bois 5

Useful in the preparation of Arsenal during their midfield reversal and assured defensively. Lucky not to concede a penalty for a clumsy tackle on Hudson-Odoi, and equally lucky not to get a yellow card after committing a handful of clumsy fouls.

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Guillaume Saliba 7

Put his body on the line to deny Igor Jesus a scissor kick. He kept Forest at bay throughout the first half with a series of professional fouls and was as assured as ever in defense.

Gabriel 7

Fairly composed on defense without making any worthwhile contributions.

Ben White 6

A quiet day at the office after impressing in the FA Cup earlier this week. Free Saka with a few well-placed balls over the top.

Declan Rice 7

He covered every blade of grass and barely made a mistake. The set piece deliveries were impressive as always.

Martin Zubimendi 6

A productive but quiet performance from the Spaniard, who scored twice in this match. Made useful defensive contributions.

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Martin Odegaard4

I had some nice moments coming up, but I was pretty anonymous. Struggled to get involved and was substituted early in the second half.

Noni Madueke 5

It was wasteful at times – he hit an early corner into the side netting and attempted a horrible shot – but he looked relatively dangerous with the ball at his feet.

Viktor Gyokeres 3

Failed to build on his impressive performance at Chelsea. Dropped between the lines, but was caught in possession on several occasions. Struggled to win a physical battle with Nikola Milenkovic and shrugged off a one-on-one shortly before the break. Hooked shortly before game time.

Gabriel Martinelli4

Struggled to trouble Ola Aina and missed a brilliant opening chance as he shot wide from a yard out. Rightly hung on to the break.

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Submarines:

Léandro Trossard (Martinelli ’45) 5

A very quiet performance after coming off the bench at halftime, endemic of a sub-optimal offensive performance from his team as a whole.

Bukayo Saka (Madueke ’56) 6

Give Rice a shot immediately after coming on. It was a huge improvement over Madueke, but he lacked both end product and an end ball.

Mikel Merinos (Odegaard ’56) 7

Dictated the play after his introduction and caused Forest problems going forward, but was clearly frustrated by the lack of quality shown by his teammates.

Gabriel Jesus (Gyokeres ’56) 6

He was an improvement on Gyokeres and found himself in good positions, but was unable to change the game as Arteta might have hoped.

Eberechi Eze (Zubimendi ’78) N/A

Not used: Arrizabalaga, Lewis-Skelly, Mosquera, Havertz