Arsenal beat Forest late as Manchester United are held at Leeds

Arsenal struck late to beat Nottingham Forest and keep the pressure on Premier League leaders Manchester City on Sunday, while a struggling Manchester United dropped more points in a draw at Leeds, according to AFP’s match reports carried by The Express Tribune.

Arsenal grind out a win

The defending champions huffed and puffed against Oliver Glasner’s Forest, before substitute Noni Madueke found the net in the 80th minute after a deflection off Jair Cunha. It was Arsenal’s only shot on target in a disjointed performance, but they are showing an impressive ability to grind out results when not at their best.

The 1-0 win moved Mikel Arteta’s side back up to second, three points behind City, who the day before had 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. Forest, who failed to take 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.”

United held at Elland Road

Manchester United travelled to their bitter rivals Leeds looking for a spark but settled for a 1-1 draw. Bryan Mbeumo, playing as the target man, wasted a couple of chances before breaking the deadlock in the 35th minute, guiding a Youri Tielemans cross into the bottom corner for his fourth goal of the season. Leeds were level in the 51st minute when England forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin controlled the ball on his chest and finished at full stretch after Tarik Muharemovic’s header from a corner.

United, 13th in the table, have one win in seven league games and are winless in their last six matches in all competitions. That is their fewest wins at this stage of a top-flight season since 1986/87.

Manager Michael Carrick, in his first full season in charge, is searching for answers, with his team looking short of quality and confidence. A growing sense of crisis at Old Trafford was heightened by a midweek outburst from defender Lisandro Martinez, who criticised the club’s hierarchy after a 2-0 Champions League defeat at Atletico Madrid. Martinez gave an interview in Spain in which he attacked the lack of investment in the summer transfer window. Carrick said on Friday that United had “moved on” from the incident, and Martinez started at Leeds.

“If there’s any weakness, it gets found out today,” Carrick 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.”

Elsewhere

• Brighton 5, Crystal Palace 0: the win included a sensational goal from the halfway line by Diego Gomez. Only three sides in Premier League history have scored more goals in their first seven games of a season than Brighton’s 23.
• Bournemouth 2, Sunderland 0: goals from Marcus Tavernier and Evanilson gave Bournemouth their first league win of the season against a Sunderland side reduced to 10 men.

Why it matters

City lead the table despite the guilty verdict hanging over the club, and Arsenal’s late win shows the defending champions can keep pace without playing well. For United, the draw is another sign of a campaign slipping away, with the dressing-room dispute over transfer spending still unresolved. Read our earlier report on Manchester United’s deepening crisis.

This article draws on reporting by The Express Tribune and AFP.