Arsenal edged out Nottingham Forest 2-1 in their Premier League opener on Saturday at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners took control of the proceedings after Eddie Nketiah and Bukayo Saka found the net in the first-half. Mikel Arteta’s men, however, saw an nervy end to the match after Taiwo Awoniyi pulled one back for the visitors with just seven minutes of regulation time remaining. But, Arsenal, who finished second last season, held on to get the new season off to a perfect start.
However, the start of the match was delayed after problems with an e-ticketing system left thousands of fans stranded outside the Emirates Stadium.
Broadcasters TNT estimated there were still 35,000 supporters unable to get to their seats by the scheduled kick-off time of 1130GMT.
“This afternoon’s game with Nottingham Forest will now kick off at 1pm (UK), due to a delay at the turnstiles,” Arsenal said in a statement.
The Gunners are aiming for a fast start as they look to go one better than finishing second to Manchester City last season.
New signings Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber all made league debuts from the start after costing Arsenal over a combined 200 million ($254 million) in the transfer market.
City got their title defence off to the perfect start by beating Burnley 3-0 on Friday.
“We deserved to be in front but we didn’t kill the game,” said Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta. “We had a lack of concentration, conceded a goal, and so it is game on.
“You cannot give teams anything and we gave them hope. Then the feeling is we want the game to end and take the three points.”
(With AFP Inputs)
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