Arsenal are back up and running in the Premier League again, as they picked up a valuable victory on home soil.
After a frustrating defeat to Liverpool before the international break, Mikel Arteta picked his side up again and prepared for a big clash.
In the end, Arsenal beat Nottingham Forest at the Emirates Stadium, as goals from Martin Zubimendi and Viktor Gyokeres sealed all three points.
That was despite another injury issue for Martin Odegaard, piled on top of the uncertainty surrounding how Forest would play under their new manager.
There were plenty of talking points to take from it for Arsenal, but the clear discussion would always surround Zubimendi and his heroics.
The Spaniard has only played a handful of games for the Gunners, but he is already proving some fans wrong.
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Martin Zubimendi is proving Arsenal fans wrong with goal-scoring claims
After months of hard work behind the scenes, Arsenal signed Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad for £51 million over the summer.
The Gunners beat competition from the likes of Real Madrid and Liverpool to his signature, showing just how well the hierarchy did to convince him of the move.
Everyone knew what his skillset was, as the star was always going to be impressive in circulating possession and keeping the ball moving.
However, there were two main doubts about Zubimendi when he joined the club.
One was his physicality, as it was unclear exactly how well he could adjust to the Premier League and the demanding nature of it.
This is something he has done extremely well already, winning around 50% of his duels since joining, while he has plenty of ball recoveries, tackles and interceptions to his name as well.
That’s not all, though, as some questioned the attacking side of his game.
This was a critique aimed at Declan Rice when he joined Arsenal for a club-record fee from West Ham just a few years ago.
The midfielder has since shown himself to be an important part of the attacking unit, just as Zubimendi could be proving himself now.
Zubimendi’s brace for Arsenal against Nottingham Forest made him the standout player on the day, coming up with some impressive finishes when he wasn’t expected to.
Those goals have already seen the 26-year-old match last season’s league tally for Real Sociedad, making quite the leap already.
While he won’t be expected to score quite as often as that, there could be opportunities for him to arrive with some big strikes over the course of the season.
As a result, Zubimendi could end up proving a lot of people wrong, in a similar way to Rice, with his goal-scoring ability.
Martin Zubimendi set two new personal records for Arsenal against Nottingham Forest
It’s fair to say that perhaps Arsenal’s win over Nottingham Forest was the game where Zubimendi truly announced himself to the Premier League.
The midfielder shouldn’t be expected to score like that regularly, though, as he set two new personal records for himself.
It was the first time Zubimendi scored a brace in his career, proving just how rare it has been for him to get involved with goals.
It was also the first time in the league he had scored from outside the box, but it suggests he is capable if it falls to him.
While Arsenal will hope they won’t have to rely on him scoring lots, a few more goals from the Spaniard would certainly come as a bonus.
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