Gabriel Martinelli impresses for Arsenal in 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest

Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli delivered a superb performance during the club’s 2-1 Premier League win over Nottingham Forest at the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners started their campaign against Steve Cooper’s side on Saturday afternoon. They had a relatively slow start, but managed to break the deadlock in the 26th minute.

Martinelli produced a wonderful piece of skill to beat two Forest players in the box. The resulting ball fell straight into the path of Eddie Nketiah, who found the back of the net.

Six minutes later, Bukayo Saka doubled the lead with a superb curling effort from outside the box.

Taiwo Awoniyi pulled one goal back for Forest in the 82nd minute, but the Gunners managed to regain their composure to secure a victory in the curtain-raiser.

Saka ended up scoring the eventual match-winner, but Martinelli was equally impressive. He created the opening goal and played with confidence thereafter.

In his 86 minutes, the 22-year-old completed 28 out of his 30 passes with an accuracy of 93 per cent.

Meanwhile, the Brazilian created three key chances while completing 100 per cent of his crosses.

Defensively, he was also very involved, winning six duels and inducing two fouls from Forest.

Martinelli proves his worth to Arsenal

Martinelli was not at his best in the Community Shield clash against Manchester City last weekend.

The left winger struggled to create chances on goal, and he was also poor with his set-pieces.

This led to some suggestions that Leandro Trossard could start ahead of him against Forest.

However, manager Mikel Arteta kept his trust on Martinelli and he repaid the faith.

Martinelli was outstanding with his overall work rate and was pivotal to the victory.

Arsenal’s next game will be against Crystal Palace away from home on August 21.

Stats from Sofascore.com