Arsene Wenger says Forest made Arsenal suffer before Gunners breakthrough

Arsene Wenger commended Forest on their commitment and said the Reds made his Arsenal side ‘suffer’ before they made a telling breakthrough on Tuesday night.

Arsenal overcame Forest 4-0 in a result many Forest fans will see as disappointing but fair in a pacey EFL Cup tie which underlined the gap in quality between the top end of the Premier League and the middle of the Championship.

But after the game Wenger said Granit Xhaka’s goal midway through the first half was a breakthrough after his team laboured under a fast start by Forest.

“In the end it was comfortable but the game was tough, it was played at a good pace,” he said.

“Nottingham Forest played with full commitment. We needed to be patient and maybe as well make sure we did not concede a goal.

“We suffered a bit in the first 20 minutes and the opening goal helped us.”

Lucas Perez converted a penalty on the hour and scored 11 minutes later in front of a packed City Ground. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain finished the scoring in injury time.

There was to be no goal of fate for Nicklas Bendtner, who had little impact against his former side after dominating the pre-game headlines.

After the game Forest manager Philippe Montanier said he found the scoreline hard to accept but admitted the clinical nature of the opposition was too much to handle.

“Two-nil after the penalty against Arsenal, when they have good control of the game, it was very tough for us,” he said.

Video: Montanier says Forest’s technical performance let them down against the Gunners

“I’m disappointed about our technical level because we missed a lot of passes, but we are satisfied with the beginning of the first half. The first goal changed the game.

“But I think we deserved one or two goals, it’s very disappointing for my players because they gave everything and did a lot of running but football is a technical sport and Arsenal had better technique than us.”

Forest return to the Championship when they travel to Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday for a 3pm kick-off.

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