The City Ground roof erupted as Nottingham Forest confirmed survival after beating high flying Arsenal 1-0 in their final home game of the season. Taiwo Awoniyi's first half strike secured the Reds place for a second straight year in the Premier League. It is the first time all three promoted clubs have stayed up since the 2017/18 season. For Arsenal, their title hopes are over as this result confirms Manchester City have won the league for a third consecutive year.
Steve Cooper made no changes from his side that drew 2-2 at Chelsea. It meant Brennan Johnson was on the bench for a second game in a row as Cooper focused more on defence rather than attack. Mikel Arteta made two changes from his side that suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Brighton Hove Albion. Gabriel Martinelli dropped out through injury and was replaced by January Leandro Trossard. Kieran Tierney also dropped out the side and in came Thomas Partey.
An Arsenal mistake after 19 minutes gave Forest the chance to take the lead in which they did. Captain Martin Odegaard gave away the ball in midfield that Morgan Gibbs-White latched onto, the record signing had options left and right but chose the latter to put Awoniyi through and he finished past Aaron Ramsdale. A fifth goal in three games for the Forest number nine who has stepped up massively when his side has needed him.
That was it for a very quiet first half as Awoniyi fired Forest into an important lead. Arsenal were seeing a lot of the ball but struggled to create anything against a tight Forest defence. The host's heading into the break in front for a fourth game in a row and questions were asked for if they could hold onto what would end up being a long 45 minutes.
Like the first half, the second half proved very little for chances on goal. The visitors did have a big chance after 60 minutes. A ball sent in behind the Forest defence found Bukayo Saka on the right hand side but he was denied at close range from Keylor Navas. A big save from the on loan keeper who did seem to have some trouble in the game as he wasn't able to take any goal kicks, captain Joe Worrall took them instead.
Forest did have a chance towards the end of the game. Some lovely skill from Gibbs-White to get away from Odegaard and then he danced his way past Ben White before letting a shot off but was denied by Ramsdale.
Despite the Arsenal pressure in stoppage time, the referee blew his whistle and confirmed that Nottingham Forest had defied the odds and stayed in the Premier League. The City Ground left rocking with Forest surviving with a game to spare. Forest remain 16th and can finish as high as 14th if they win their final game away at Crystal Palace a week on Sunday. For Arsenal, an unbelievable season ends in heartbreak as they miss out on the Premier League title after sitting at the top for so long. The Gunners will finish second in the table and will make a return to the Champions League. Arteta's side face one more test as they host Wolves on the final day of the Premier League season.
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