Boss Mikel Arteta said his side would concede the title “over my dead body” but he may have to accept his side’s challenge has died a death after this stalemate.

The Gunners, playing without a recognised striker, managed just one shot on target at the City Ground, with Riccardo Calafiori also hitting the post in the first half.

Forest’s surprise challenge for Champions League qualification has hit the buffers with just one win from their last five and they appear to be running out of steam, with Manchester City and Chelsea breathing down their necks.

Both sides felt each other out in an even opening 20 minutes where goalmouth action was at a premium.

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The game came to life soon after when Forest wanted a penalty as Callum Hudson-Odoi went down under a challenge from Calafiori, though referee Andrew Madeley waved away protests.

And, moments later, the Italian was involved at the other end as he was within inches of giving his side the lead as he spun Nicolas Dominguez but saw his curling effort hit the post.

That was the closest side either came in a dull first half.

Arsenal registered their first effort on target six minutes after the restart as they threatened from a corner.

Mikel Merino arrived late from Declan Rice’s delivery but Matz Sels parried the header away.

The Gunners were camped in the Forest final third and threatened with more set-pieces as Kieran Tierney was off target from one corner while Sels did well to punch away another.

Forest have been used to not having much of the ball this season but they have been able to hit teams on the counter-attack.

But they struggled to hurt the Gunners at all, often failing on the transitions.

They finally forced David Raya into a meaningful save in the 70th minute when Morgan Gibbs-White slipped in Chris Wood but the striker fired straight at the goalkeeper.

Wood had another opening soon after as Dominguez’s cross-field ball was missed by Gabriel but the striker’s touch was poor and the Arsenal defender recovered with a crunching tackle.

Neither side had the quality to break the deadlock as another nail was hammered into the coffin of Arsenal’s title challenge.


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