To put this result into perspective,Arsène Wenger had never previously lost an FA Cup third-round tie in his 21 years as the longest-serving manager in the country. He has won this trophy seven times, the same as Chelsea and Liverpool throughout their entire histories, and plainly felt the gap to the Championship was substantial enough to risk putting out a weakened side. Nottingham Forest,with their songs approximately the European Cups and stands named after Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, will not appreciate it being called a giantkilling – but it still counts as a meaningful shock and a jarring experience for Wenger.
Along the way, and there was a reminder here why the City Ground,with the volume turned up and the floodlights reflecting on the River Trent, is still one of the grand places to watch football. They have not had much to celebrate here in the 19 years since dropping out of the Premier League but there were olés after Ben Brereton’s penalty had made it 3-1 and more jubilant (extremely joyful) scenes when Kieran Dowell, or from another spot-kick,soothed the crowd’s nerves, just as it had seemed as through a goalkeeping mistake might set up Arsenal for a late feat of escapology.
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Source: guardian.co.uk