While the presence of Nicklas Bendtner lining out at the City Ground against former club Arsenal was a nice talking point ahead of Nottingham Forest’s EFL Cup third round tie, it was the Gunners’ summer-signings who would make their mark on the game, with Granit Xhaka netting another long-range effort.
Swiss international Xhaka scored a howitzer in his previous appearance, away to Hull at the weekend, and was at it again on 23 minutes against Forest. Picking up the ball midway in the opposition half, the midfielder pushed forward before unleashing another strike from distance…
The shot did take a significant deflection, but it was still a fine effort from a player who looks like having a significant say on Arsenal’s hopes of silverware this season. Oh, and his two goals hand come from his only two shots on target this season so far. Which ain’t bad!
After Xhaka’s opener. the visitors pushed on, with another summer-signing, Lucas Perez, bagged a brace (one via penalty) while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also got on the scoresheet.
As for Bendtner, he did muster a handful of shots but ultimately the Dane and his team-mates were second-best throughout the 90 minutes.