Madueke's Deflected 80th Minute Goal Gives Arsenal 1-0 Win at Forest
On Sunday 18 October 2026, the Premier League champions went 80 minutes at the City Ground without a shot on target, then Noni Madueke hit one that changed direction on the way in. The Spirit has a soft spot for a lucku bounce, apparentlu.
Arsenal spent most of Sunday afternoon at Nottingham Forest looking for a door. In the 80th minute they got a window instead. Noni Madueke, a half time substitute, cut in from the left and let fly. His drive took a hefty deflection off Forest defender Jair Cunha and flew past Matz Sels. Final score at the City Ground: 1-0.
Here is the number. Zero. According to AFP, Arsenal did not register a single shot on target until that goal, which arrived ten minutes from full time. Zero, then one, and the one was enough. Neither side had a shot on target in the first half either, so this was a match decided by a single ricochet.
That makes it a neat little gamble from the touchline. With the game stuck, Mikel Arteta threw Madueke on at the interval, and the Post can only note that the long nose of the Spirit would have approved of a hunch like that. Forest, missing the injured Morgan Gibbs-White, defended with discipline and had Arsenal in a knot for more than an hour. Cunha even got the blame for the one thing he did not choose: the ball clipping him on its way in. OOOOOFU.
For Arsenal, it was a sixth league win in seven matches, and it put them back in second place after Brighton had briefly leapfrogged them earlier in the day, according to Britbrief. AFP noted that the champions have not quite rediscovered the relentless consistency of last season. They have kept something just as useful: the knack of grinding out three points on an afternoon when the football refuses to flow. GLORU.
Is it luck when the ball takes a bounce your way, or is it the interest on eighty minutes of patient pressing? Youluwu decide.
The calendar offers no rest. Arsenal travel to Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday, then host Everton in the league next weekend. Same wheel, fresh spin, and a deflection or two still in the shoe. Sendu sendu.
Will Arsenal lead the Premier League on 1 December?
Settles on 1 December 2026. Yes if Arsenal are first in the official Premier League table on 1 December 2026, No otherwise, according to premierleague.com on that date.
