Nuno Espirito Santo says Nottingham Forest's 'basics' approach was enough to stop Arsenal

Arsenal’s Premier League title race is all-but over after they failed to defeat Nottingham Forest away from home on Wednesday night. The Gunners faltered again after struggling to create chances, and Liverpool’s win over Newcastle United means the gap now stands at 13 points with the Reds having played a game more.

Mikel Arteta has not been able to find a sufficient answer for his side’s attacking crisis, with the out of position Leandro Trossard and Mikel Merino unable to fill the void left by the injured Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus.

It was an entertaining goalless draw at the City Ground on Wednesday night, with both teams enjoying fast-paced breakaways, even if they did come to nothing. There were some key chances, and Martin Odegaard had the best of the lost, seeing his double effort blocked, while Riccardo Calafiori hit the post with a curling effort in the first half.

Arsenal dominated, but Forest held strong and defended well on the whole, limiting the Gunners and standing up to their set-piece threat. After the game, Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo spoke of his pride in his team and how they secured the point by doing ‘the basics’.

"I’m very happy with the way we did things, the way we played against Arsenal,” he told BBC Sport. "It's very difficult to play against them. They’re a very good team. It requires a lot of effort. We were solid and compact. Very positive game.

"After this period we had conceding it was important to go back to basics - solid, clean sheet. We had a couple of moments to do it better. But in terms of the game, positive because it was very important to go back to the team we are that allows us to be successful. They have danger all over the place. Set-pieces are some of them. It requires focus. The boys did well. We prepared it.

"This is one of the main messages, more than anything, the feeling of being a team that don’t concede too many chances, always in the right places, organised, balanced. Going forward we have talent. Our fans have been amazing for us. Today again. No legs but they give us the extra run to the players. Can't thank them enough. We have to enjoy the journey and realise it's not always possible to go with a victory. They saw a good team a team who competed very well."

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said at full-time: "[We showed] unquestionable character, how much wanted it and tried. We dominated the game. We tried in many different ways. We insisted but lacked that spark, that final pass to unlock a well organised team. We have to generate more shots on target.

"Very different standard [to the West Ham defeat]. We defended with energy, purpose, fight, willingness to make things happen. It wasn’t because we lacked that. We tried until the end but weren’t able to do it."

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