Arsenal won 1-0 at Nottingham Forest on Sunday. Noni Madueke came off the bench at half-time and his deflected shot ten minutes from the end was Arsenal's only effort on target all afternoon. Forest drop into the relegation zone. Six fan YouTubers watched it so you don't have to.
Context for anyone who nodded off in the first half, as Troopz admits he did. Nobody hit the target before the break. Arteta took off Eberechi Eze for Madueke, and on 80 minutes Madueke cut in from the left and his shot deflected off Jair Cunha and in. Forest then had two big late chances. Chris Wood's came to nothing and Murillo curled one wide in stoppage time. Ezri Konsa's late tackle on Liam Delap finished it. Arsenal are three points behind Manchester City. Arteta's verdict to Sky Sports: "We did something we didn't do in the two seasons before and that is win the game."
Noni Madueke: one shot, one goal, one loud argument
The Goonerverse gets the joke in first. "I suppose any strike in that game was going to look brilliant to us, wasn't it?" Then the case: Madueke has made something happen in three games running, and the channel says "Noni Madueke deserves a run now". From a fanbase that has never quite warmed to him, that is close to a marriage proposal.
TroopzTV is not in a forgiving mood. He calls it the "worst performance possibly under Arteta" and adds that "Lucifer himself would have been proud of that one". Madueke is the exception. "I never thought in my life when Noni joined the club, I would be preferring Noni to be in my starting 11," he says, and he means over Saka. The goal gets the line of the day. "He bought his ticket and he won us the lottery today."
Saka and the attack: the uncomfortable conversation
The AFTV ratings panel gives Saka a four. "It's below average." "They had two on him all the time, but he just didn't get no joy at all." Konsa gets an eight and the tag "one of the signings of the summer of all teams". So the defence gets sevens and eights and the attack gets fours and fives.
DeludedGooner holds both thoughts at once, insisting "multiple truths can live in the same realm". Three points and a clean sheet are great. But on the ball, "what really did we create". The fix he wants is "that healthy randomness", players who smell a chance and go for it. Madueke gets the credit for exactly that. "You made your own luck. You took a chance." The Goonerverse goes further, saying the attack is "scraping the bottom of the barrel" and Kai Havertz "just wasn't in it". Konsa and Gabriel, on the other hand, were "absolutely mustard".
Forest: the plan worked, the finishing didn't
ForestFanTV is oddly upbeat. "Arsenal were there for the taking." It gives Dominguez a 91 and backs the manager: "I don't think Glasner did anything wrong tactically the way he set up Forest today." The finishing is another matter. On Wood's late chance: "He looked like he needed a Zimmer frame with that chance." The goodwill has limits too. "Football is a results-based business, and he needs to sort it out."
Dore On Tour sounds resigned rather than angry. "We've got to take our chances. That's the name of the game, isn't it?" The channel points out Forest still haven't won at home since Burnley, and Sky Sports adds that they haven't scored at the City Ground in the league all season. Oliver Glasner told Sky "everybody feels the result is unfair today". It is still a third league defeat in a row.
The argument: grit to admire, or a warning before Bayern?
The Arsenal rooms agree on the result and not much else. Troopz says the football is dead, then admits "I'm just enjoying the results." The Goonerverse and DeludedGooner rate the defence and blame the attack. Most want Madueke starting, and Saka is the conversation nobody enjoys. Troopz's warning is that "we cannot play how we played today against Bayern Munich". Forest's rooms have the opposite problem. They have a plan that works and nobody to put the ball in the net. One shot was enough at the City Ground. Troopz is fairly sure it won't be in Munich.
More from the rooms: Arsenal fan YouTubers and Nottingham Forest fan YouTubers.