As one dream died, another came true.
An Arsenal team clad all in black found themselves attending a wake for their title challenge, while a raucous City Ground roared Nottingham Forest to survival.
AlamyTaiwo Awoniyi scored the only goal of the game at the City Ground[/caption]
ReutersArsenal’s slim hopes of the Premier League title were ended by the defeat[/caption]
Arsenal have fallen away at the end of the seasonRichard Pelham / The Sun
GettyMikel Arteta has come up short in ending Arsenal’s 19-year wait for a league title[/caption]
The magnificent home crowd were probably expecting their battle to stay up to go to the wire.
Mikel Arteta and his team, having surrendered the initiative to Manchester City, hoped at least to make Pep Guardiola’s side earn it on Sunday.
But both clubs can now begin in earnest their reflections on what went right and wrong.
It really was an unfortunate week for it to emerge that Arsenal had a new mascot called “Win” at their training ground.
The chocolate Labrador who bears that name is no doubt a lovely animal.
It’s just a shame that, in the final analysis, a lack of title pedigree told against her team.
And the end of their championship quest was confirmed by a Forest side that is a bit of a mongrel.
Steve Cooper deserves huge credit for giving a team that barked so loudly in the transfer market enough bite to retain top-flight status.
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Captain Martin Odegaard could do nothing to prevent the Forest defeatRex
From a huge squad of players drawn from all corners of the world, Cooper forged an effective unit that produced when it really mattered.
And where it really mattered.
Of Forest’s 37 points, 30 of them have been won at their ramshackle but characterful home ground.
Arsenal were not the first to feel the power of the Trentside atmosphere and they did not lose the title in the East Midlands.
But some of the reasons why were in evidence.
Arteta’s squad simply was not deep enough.
Since centre-back William Saliba was injured, their defence has kept just one clean sheet.
And they ailed to maintain standards when key players chose the worst possible time to go through bad patches or make crucial errors.
In the decisive moment of this game, it was captain Martin Odegaard who erred – not for the first time in the run of games that has cost them so dearly.
Against Southampton, the Norwegian lost possession and the Saints broke to put themselves 2-0 ahead.
The same thing happened here. Odegaard’s bizarrely bad pass set Forest away and Taiwo Awoniyi scored his fifth goal in three games.
And that strike underlined something else that has gone against Arsenal: luck.
Gabriel was favourite to snuff out the danger but ended up claiming an unfortunate assist as he kicked the ball against the Nigerian’s right ankle and watched it fly past Aaron Ramsdale.
It was a gorgeous end-of-season day in Nottingham.
Some of the locals came into the famous old ground with faces almost as red as their shirts, after enjoying the spring sunshine.
And they left flushed with success, safe in the knowledge that they would be watching Premier League football here again next season.
It didn’t take long to work out why Arteta had reshuffled his back four, shifting Jakub Kiwior to left back, moving Ben White into the centre and recalling Thomas Partey to play at right-back.
Gabriel Jesus cut an incredibly frustrated figurePA
Arsenal needed height and physical presence to cope with an early Forest barrage that the home crowd absolutely loved.
Centre-back Moussa Niakhate’s long throws caused early mayhem in the Gunners’ penalty area, with bodies flying everywhere and the ball falling to safety more through luck than judgement.
Having weathered the early storm, Arsenal created the first real chances. Keylor Navas made a smothering save from an offside-looking Gabriel Jesus, then the Brazilian headed over after a corner.
But just as the volume was dropping a little, Forest had lift off.
Arsenal’s new-look defence was undone by one horribly-misplaced pass by Odegaard that somehow left Morgan Gibbs-White and Awoniyi 2v2 against the centre backs.
Gibbs-White’s pass was not the best but as Gabriel attempted to nick the ball away from the onrushing Awoniyi, he succeeded only in hitting it against the Forest striker.
Leandro Trossard was off target from a corner routine but the visitors were finding it hard to create openings from open play against their well-organised hosts.
At one point, White was stationary for several seconds as he tried to pick a pass that might pull the Forest’s players out of position.
Niakhate was booked in first-half stoppage time for taking too long to launch one of his bombs.
In contrast, Arteta sent his team out early for the second period.
Nevertheless they were almost caught cold. A free kick caused panic, albeit with a strong suspicion of offside, and Forest centre-back Felipe’s close-range effort was blocked behind for a corner.
Navas had barely made a significant save but was finally forced into action again on the hour.
White found Saka with a ball over the top but the Costa Rican keeper beat away the shot.
Jorginho fired wide from the resulting corner, and again a few minutes later, either side of Gibbs-White shooting into the side-netting.
Tempers began to fray on the pitch and on the touchline as time ticked down.
Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis put his head in his hands when six minutes of stoppage-time was announced.
But Arsenal never really looked like finding the equaliser to keep the title race mathematically alive.
And some stalwart defending ensured Forest were the ones celebrating on a day of mixed emotions.