The 'absurd' part of this Arsenal team behind bid to defend Premier League crown

Modern football is a game of two parts: the first hour or so, dictated by carefully curated gameplans and training ground patterns; and the final half-hour when a flurry of substitutes come on, rigid structures fade away and a match opens at the seams. Arsenal were dire for most of this game at the City Ground, shut out by Nottingham Forest's red wall.

But yet again the power of Mikel Arteta's "finishers" decided a match. Noni Madueke was sent on at half-time for Eberechi Eze, who had been statuesque at his station on the left touchline, which, in fairness, is not his position.

With the clock ticking towards 80 minutes, Madueke did what Eze hadn't and drove at Forest's defence before unleashing a shot, which took a fortunate deflection off Jair Cunha on its way past the helpless Matz Sels. It went down as Arsenal's only shot on target, and in truth it might have been curling wide.

This was the third game in a row in which Arteta rang the changes in the second half as his team struggled to click, after Leeds last weekend and Lille in midweek. Once again he made a triple substitution on 65 minutes, sending on Jurrien Timber, Mikel Merino and Viktor Gyokeres, and once again a stubborn defence was worn down in the final stages.

No Premier League side has generated more goals and assists from the bench since the start of last season. Like Eze, Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka had little joy, and Oliver Glasner took positives from a performance of cohesion and spirit.

Liam Delap was a brilliant nuisance in attack and could have equalised in the final minutes but for Ezri Konsa's last-ditch block. Murillo nearly scored the goal of the season, dribbling in from the left touchline before curling just over the bar with one of the last kicks.

But Forest remain third from bottom after a third successive defeat, and their wait for a first home goal of the season goes on. Arsenal, meanwhile, stay second, three points behind Manchester City and two ahead of Brighton.

Second might be enough for first when City are eventually sanctioned. And even if Arsenal endure more struggles like they did for the majority of this game, strength in depth may prove the difference between the champions and the rest.

"If you look at the quality of our starting XI and bench, it's absurd," said Madueke, after a game in which fellow substitutes Max Dowman, Martin Zubimendi and Myles Lewis-Skelly weren't needed. "We know that we're going to start some [games] and finish some, and for me it's the same mentality every time: I just want to create or score."