Poor team selection and a very below par performance cost holders Arsenal dear as they were dumped out of the FA Cup following a 4-2 defeat at Championship club Nottingham Forest.
It would have been unjust had we got anything from the game, but at 3-2 Nottingham Forest were given a controversial penalty. At first glance I actually thought it was a careless challenge and the right call, but replays show Mathieu Debuchy fairly won the ball and it was a poor decision. Had we somehow then gone on to equalise it would have been unfair on Forest, who were clearly the side more hungry to get the win.
Ben Brereton was a constant thorn in our side and Eric Lichaj's two goals, especially his sublime second, were more than worthy of winning the contest and credit to Forest for doing a job on us. I can accept cup upsets happen, but the manner of how we exited this prestigious domestic competition was nothing short of embarrassing as Arsene Wenger lost his first ever FA Cup third round tie.
The team selection left a lot to be desired and, whilst I am all for giving youngsters a chance, to not have the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Alexandre Lacazette even on the bench as back-up was absolute madness. I genuinely believe had they been there to call on they may well have been able to turn the tie around before it even got to 3-1, but instead we had no game changers to bring on so it was even more of a struggle. The players out there, especially the likes of senior forwards Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck, should have done far better and it was definitely a day to forget for Arsenal.
Forest started brightly with Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina getting down low to save Brereton's early effort before tipping Matty Cash's shot behind.
The hosts made no mistake after 20 minutes as Lichaj got the final touch to Kieran Dowell's free-kick to break the deadlock, but the lead was short lived as Arsenal levelled within three minutes. Walcott's free-kick, albeit a softly given one, was met by the head of Rob Holding, but the defender was denied by the post before Per Mertesacker controlled the ball and slotted in the equaliser.
This should have galvanised Arsenal, but instead Forest very nearly went straight back up the other end to get their second. Brereton took a good touch to get the ball onto his left foot on the edge of the box, but Ospina was on hand to deny him with a diving save before gathering the ball at the second attempt. Ospina raced out to deny Brereton again soon after, but the offside flag had already been raised anyway.
Arsenal saw a shot deflect behind for a corner before Ospina once again came to the rescue at the other end to parry Brereton's shot and Mertesacker than cleared the danger.
In the final minute of the half Lichaj netted his second of the game and what a goal it was. The Arsenal defence poorly failed to clear the danger and Lichaj took full advantage by expertly controlling the ball and unleashing a fine volley into the top corner from the edge of the box.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles flashed a shot wide in first-half injury time as Arsenal went in 2-1 behind at the break. The full-back was then involved in a move within nine minutes of the restart that I think summed up our poor display. Maitland-Niles got the better of the defender and put in a fairly decent cross, but nobody even attempted to get on the end of it which was very poor to see.
We were putting constant pressure on the Forest defence in the early stages of the second half, but with very little to show for it as we weren't really creating many chances.
Forest increased their lead to 3-1 shortly after the hour mark after the outstretched leg of Holding took down Cash in the box. Brereton sent Ospina the wrong way with the resulting penalty.
Arsenal substitute Eddie Nketiah nearly reduced the deficit soon after coming on when he cut in onto his left-foot, but his strike was well saved by goalkeeper Jordan Smith, who rushed out to stop it with his knee.
With 70 minutes played we had only mustered one shot on target and that in itself shows just how poor we were, although take nothing away from Forest as they thoroughly deserved their win.
Arsenal tried to get back into the game, but with not enough intent, as Walcott's ball across to Welbeck was stopped by a sliding challenge from Michael Mancienne.
The Gunners were given a lifeline and a possible hope of a comeback when they pulled it back to 3-2 11 minutes from time. Smith came out to gather the ball and made a mess of it, allowing Welbeck to roll the ball into the empty net for an easy goal. Back came Forest who went straight down the other end with Tyler Walker shooting straight at Ospina.
There were appeals for a penalty as Welbeck thought he'd been pushed in the box and to compound Arsenal's misery Forest went back on the attack and won a spot-kick of their own six minutes from time. Armand Traore seemed to far too easily beat the defence before a challenge from Debuchy in the box. Replays show that Debuchy appeared to win the ball fairly, but a penalty was given. Dowell stepped up and scored the penalty, albeit in controversial circumstances as there appeared to be a double touch. After checking with his fellow officials referee Jonathan Moss awarded the goal. It stopped any hopes of a comeback and, whilst a tad frustrating, we didn't deserve to get anything from the game anyway.
Forest's Joe Worrall was sent off for a rash tackle on substitute Chuba Akpom late on, but it was too late to have any real impact on the game. Arsenal's final chance of the match saw Smith excellently get a touch to Akpom's shot and Walcott chased the ball, but was unable to get on the end of it to divert it towards goal.
An embarrassing cup exit for Wenger, who was serving the first game of his three-match touchline ban, as well as for the underperforming players and a very hard watch for the fans!
OPPOSITION VIEW
Nottingham Forest fan Rob Terrace was critical of the Arsenal defence after seeing his side cause a great FA Cup shock.
"The first thing that comes to mind is how slow was the Arsenal defence? I thought their young lads weren't up for it, and it showed when the pressure came," said Terrace. "We sat back and hit them when it was needed. The defending was poor for the first, the second would have beaten any keeper, and the two penalties, the first a good decision, the second wasn't, but I don't care.
"Have I said that Per Mertesacker is the slowest footballer I've ever seen?"
It wasn't all about Arsenal playing poorly as Forest more than deserved their win and Terrace reflected positively back on what was a great match for his team.
"There are two things I always will remember from my days watching football. Anything can happen and third round day of the FA Cup is special.
"Given the recent malaise of Forest, and the departure of Mark Warburton, it would have been easy to write off the tie as a bit of a nothing game.
"We knew Arsenal would turn up with a less than full-strength side. We knew the people of Nottingham would turn out for the Reds and we hoped that the something magical we all wanted would happen. But, Christmas was a fortnight ago wasn't it?
"No-one told this young Forest side, six of the players out there products of the academy, and not a poor performance from any one of them. These are lads, raised on the stories of the great Forest teams of times past, all who want to create their own little piece of history for the club.
"The architect in chief of the Arsenal downfall, was Ben Brereton. It's difficult to remember that he 'burst' onto the scene less than a season ago, given his performance. The 18-year-old turned in a performance, that, had it been in the Premier League, would have been praised for a long time. What it will do, is undoubtedly add to the list of suitors who have been watching the forward.
He scored the best part of 70 goals over 2 seasons for the U18s and 23s before he got a chance in the first team, and this was probably his best performance in a Forest shirt. Putting a centre forward with a bit of pace and strength up against an ageing (but still very good) Per Mertesacker, and Rob Holding, was a fine move from Gary Brazil, especially given the absence of Daryl Murphy. Mertesacker and Holding spent most of the game bouncing off the striker, and chasing in his wake, as he found gaps in the opposition defence.
"As for the game. Forest did exactly what was required. A well-worked free-kick goal, a world class strike from distance, and two penalties, the first of which was for a foul on Cash, the second one, which I felt was a perfectly good tackle.
"The second penalty was even more controversial due to Kieran Dowell slipping as he hit it, and possibly kicking it twice. I'm not entirely sure he did, but it was close.
"Sometimes, Christmas does come twice, and sometimes, the unlikely happens, but, I'm still shocked that we've done this."
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
For Forest it feels like Christmas has come twice, but for Arsenal there won't even be an FA Cup Final to fall back on this season.
I love the competition and am truly gutted to be out of it in such embarrassing fashion and it also makes the League Cup semi-final harder to look forward to.
Although I want us to try and win any competition we are in, the FA Cup is by far the biggest of the two domestic cups. Winning the FA Cup a few times in recent years has salvaged seasons to an extent, but the League Cup just isn't the same. Obviously I hope we beat Chelsea over the two legs to reach the League Cup Final, but based on that performance against Forest we will have our work cut out.
It will be tough watching the rest of the FA Cup unfold in the coming months knowing we will have no further part on it. The season is fizzling out, but we still need to go out there and try and rescue what we can from what has so far been a frustrating and disappointing campaign.
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
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