With their title credentials being questioned by many, a win against Nottingham Forest feels like a must for Arsenal after the latest unwanted international interruption. The progress made by Mikel Arteta’s team over the last two years has rightly earned praise, but can the club go one step further and end their long wait for the title?
Comparisons can be made with the last time Forest won a league match away at Arsenal. Coming to Highbury in March 1989 after an international break, Brian Clough’s in-form team were aiming to land another blow on an Arsenal side wobbling under the pressure. Table toppers they may have been at that time, but defeat for Arsenal would ring alarm bells.
Sitting on the summit since Boxing Day, George Graham’s young team were looking to right the wrongs of the previous two campaigns, seasons that had seen promising starts fade away. But with just four points from their previous four matches, and just two goals scored, journalists were pondering whether Arsenal would once again fail to go the distance.
Facing Clough’s Forest would have been one of the last fixtures Graham would have wanted to play at a time when his team was vulnerable. Twice Forest had triumphed at Highbury during the previous season, with Clough’s counterattacking team a constant concern for those of an Arsenal persuasion. Unbeaten in 15 matches, Clough’s late 80s vintage were a joy to watch.
A win at Highbury would edge Forest back into title contention, and with League Cup and Simod Cup finals to look forward to, as well as a trip to Old Trafford in the FA Cup sixth round, these were exciting times for Forest fans. Although there was also a bit of pain for a couple of their supporters along the way.
A 5-2 win against QPR in the League Cup quarter-final saw Forest fans invade the City Ground pitch in celebration, much to the irritation of Clough who promptly clumped two young men around the head. Handed a touchline ban for the rest of the season, Clough would be forced to watch the match at Highbury from the East Stand.
Graham indicated in his programme notes that he was fully aware of Forest’s strengths. “I expect Forest to present a formidable defensive barrier, then try and hit us on the quick break. They’re very good at it. It would be great to grab an early goal, to make them come out.” However, it didn’t quite work out how Graham had hoped.
Arsenal did score a relatively early goal but only after Forest had taken the lead. John Lukic had been forced into an early save from Lee Chapman, with Nigel Clough and Garry Parker also troubling the Arsenal keeper, before Forest took the lead in the seventh minute.
Stuart Pearce’s ball into Chapman was beautifully flicked between a static Steve Bould and Tony Adams, allowing Clough to beat the offside trap and fire past Lukic. Clough, playing in a slightly withdrawn role behind the lone striker Chapman, formed a midfield trio with Steve Hodge and the superb Neil Webb that proved a nightmare for Kevin Richardson and the struggling Michael Thomas.
Arsenal did respond quickly via a familiar route under the management of Graham. Brian Marwood’s corner in front of the North Bank was flicked on to Alan Smith who headed past Steve Sutton six minutes after Clough’s opener. But this would be a brief respite for the home team. Forest were about to put a huge dent in Arsenal’s title bid.
Webb’s fine pass to Franz Carr set the winger away down Forest’s right and after cutting inside the desperate challenge of Adams, Carr fired past Lukic in the 20th minute. There was still more to come for Arsenal in a harrowing half.
Perhaps Bould was troubled as the ball rolled through a bunker on Arsenal’s terrible playing surface, but his under-hit back-pass allowed Chapman a free run on goal. The former Arsenal man was unceremoniously wiped out by Lukic – not automatically a sending off offence back in 1989 – yet justice would be served from the resulting free kick.
Pearce fired round Arsenal’s wall, Lukic probably at fault due to the fact that he was guarding that side of the goal, a view backed up by the accusing stare and double-teapot stance adopted by Nigel Winterburn. With 35 minutes gone, Arsenal were all over the place.
Graham did get a response out of his players after the break. Sutton denied Smith from another corner, with Marwood crashing a ferocious right-footed effort against the bar. Yet Forest would have their moments on the break too, most notably when Chapman missed a one-on-one chance against Lukic late on.
Arsenal’s 3-1 defeat saw the vultures circling. Norwich were now just two points behind Arsenal with a game in hand. Liverpool were 13 points adrift with three games extra to play. Forest, having played the same amount as Liverpool, were a point further back than Kenny Dalglish’s team.
“One missed championship counts as a nice try, but if Arsenal fail this time Graham and his team will have earned the reputation of nearly men,” David Lacey wrote after the Forest defeat. “There is no estimating what psychological damage this defeat might have inflicted on George Graham’s youngsters,” Steve Curry added in the Express.
Discussions about another Arsenal collapse were becoming louder and louder. Graham, who had been linked with the Real Madrid job prior to the Forest defeat, openly criticised his players. “Forest must have felt that Christmas had come early. They have not really attacked us and they’ve got three goals. All their goals came from our mistakes. They were not earned.”
Some felt Graham’s comments were a little ungracious towards Forest. The Telegraph’s Colin Malam described Forest’s win as “one of the best and most invigorating displays of pure football it has been my privilege to watch in 24 years of covering the English game.” Clive White in the Times praised Forest’s “first-half performance of devastating opportunism”.
Graham promised that his team would go back to basics, hoping that what had got them to the summit would keep them there. Yet when Charlton drew 2-2 at Highbury in Arsenal’s next match, the drama had developed into a crisis. Liverpool were ready to pounce on an Arsenal team that seemed ill equipped to get over the line.
“For Arsenal, who have won only once in their last five games, the end of May cannot come soon enough,” White wrote after the Forest match. Yet come the end of May, Arsenal fans would be able to celebrate a first title in 18 years, featuring the ultimate climax. Somehow they managed to proved the doubting (Michael) Thomases wrong.
But it is probably just as well that social media was not a thing in 1989. Forest’s win at Highbury may have proved too much for Arsenal fans who were starting to feel the pressure as much as their team. Graham, who won a trophy at the club in his first season, would have been lambasted even though he had turned Arsenal into genuine title contenders once more. Sounds vaguely familiar, doesn’t it?
