Nottinghamshire

Alex Howell
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

The Ola Aina handball incident happened with about 10 minutes of the match remaining.

The Forest right-back attempted to control a bouncing ball in his own penalty area while being challenged by Gabriel Jesus and bumped by his own team-mate Elliot Anderson.

The ball hit Aina's shoulder before striking his arm as the defender tried to turn, prompting Mikel Arteta and Arsenal to vehemently appeal for a spot-kick - to no avail.

The Premier League Match Centre on X said: "The referee's call of no penalty to Arsenal was checked and confirmed by VAR - with it deemed that the ball was played off Aina's shoulder first, while his arm was also in a natural position."

While Arteta was adamant his side had been denied a "clear penalty", Forest boss Sean Dyche, unsurprisingly, did not agree.

"I think if these start to get given we've all got to leave it. I think that's ridiculous. We've got to be careful with those," Dyche said.

"You may as well cancel football if you're going to give that [as handball]. The rules have to be careful. You know what they should be looking at? People feigning injury. That's the new diving."

Retired Premier League assistant referee Darren Cann told BBC Sport he thought the officials had come to the correct decision, saying: "The arm is close to the body and is in a justifiable position."

The decision split the watching pundits, with ex-Chelsea winger Pat Nevin telling BBC Radio 5 Live he thought Aina's arm "moved towards the ball", but former Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard insisting it would have been "soft" to award a spot-kick for the incident.

Read more analysis on the penalty appeal here

Pundits Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney join host Mark Chapman to bring you the action and talking points from Saturday's Premier League fixtures.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Chelsea 2-0 Brentford

• Tottenham 1-2 West Ham

• Nottingham Forest 0-0 Arsenal

Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche, speaking to BBC Match of the Day after their goalless draw with Arsenal: "It's not easy playing these sides, the commitment is different. There's the commitment to score a goal of course, but what about the commitment to the shape, the basics, the hard yards of the game? And I thought we did that fantastically well as a group.

"They still had a couple of chances but listen they're a top side and they're flying. But to get a clean sheet against them is amazing. We had a couple of chances ourselves but it's hard to open them up, as they've shown all season.

"There's a lot of noise on their set-pieces and I thought Sels did well, the whole group did. But that's a great save, I think it comes over Merino's head, he sees it late, that was a good spring and he gets his fingertips to it. That was a big moment of course, but we had a big moment ourselves.

"Touch and go penalty, he gets pulled, he's falling into the box, I think that was a tight one. I know you're going to mention theirs. I think in football, look, we've got to be careful with that if people think that's a penalty. I don't know why it wasn't given, I'm pleased it wasn't, because this handball thing is a weird one at the minute, as we all know. That would've been incredibly harsh for me if that gets given.

"You can see he's got a nudge in the back, from our own player, but you can't get a nudge and control everything. I just think we've got to be really careful. I know there's a massive debate around handball at the minute, but if those get given we've got to go 'hang on a minute'.

"I though Elliot Anderson was a Rolls Royce today, him and Callum Hudson-Odoi. I thought Nicolas Dominguez off the ball, the stuff us manager's love, from his shape and his diligence. Amongst others, but Ibrahim Sangare gives us that little bit of solid feel, he knows what position to be in and allows Elliot to be a little bit freer and looser.

"There's a lot of good things here. We've just taken four points against some top sides in that run. We've played Manchester City, Villa away, these are tough games. So I'm pleased we've come away with another point."

Did you know?

• Nottingham Forest had their first 0-0 draw in the Premier League since February 2025, which was also at home against Arsenal.

Hear more from Dyche on BBC Sounds

Listen to reaction from Ola Aina

Alex Howell
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

This hard-fought point will give Forest and their manager Sean Dyche something to build on in the second half of the season.

Dyche called for "spirit and togetherness" in his programme notes and his side showed plenty of that.

Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo at centre-back were superb in dealing with the Gunners threat from set-pieces, while the whole Forest backline performed well to keep the changing Arsenal attack at bay.

There could have been a nervy atmosphere inside the City Ground after West Ham's win but the supporters were behind the team from the first minute.

Nottingham Forest had lost six of their 10 home league games before today and making their home ground a difficult place to come will be vital if they are to stay clear of the relegation zone.

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Nottingham Forest's performance

What did you make of Arsenal's display?

Come back on Monday for a selection of your replies

Sean Dyche makes one change from Nottingham Forest's last Premier League game with Sangare coming in for Hutchinson.

Nottingham Forest XI: Sels, Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams, Sangare, Anderson, Gibbs-White, Dominguez, Hudson-Odoi, Igor Jesus

Subs: Gunn, Morato, Awoniyi, Luiz, Ndoye, Hutchinson, Yates, McAtee, Savona

Mikel Arteta makes three changes to the Arsenal side that beat Chelsea in midweek. Noni Madueke and Gabriel Jesus come in on the wings. Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard drop to the bench.

Arsenal starting XI: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber, Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard, Martinelli, Madueke, Gyokeres

Subs: Arrizabalaga, Mosquera, Saka, Jesus, Eze, Trossard, Merino, Havertz, Lewis-Skelly

There are seven games in the Premier League on Saturday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Man Utd v Man City (12:30)

• Chelsea v Brentford - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

• Leeds v Fulham

• Liverpool v Burnley

• Sunderland v Crystal Palace

• Tottenham v West Ham - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Nottingham Forest v Arsenal (17:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

Kick-off times 15:00 GMT unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

You can also listen to today's 5 Live Premier League commentaries on most smart speakers. Just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Chelsea v Brentford" or "ask BBC Sounds to play Nottingham Forest v Arsenal", for instance.

Find out more about how to listen to Premier League football on BBC Sounds

Nottingham Forest are out of the FA Cup, but by far their biggest result last week was their win at relegation rivals West Ham to end a four-game losing streak in the league.

I don't see Sean Dyche's side getting anything here, though. They lost their two previous home games against Manchester City and Everton, and Arsenal will make it a hat-trick of home defeats.

This is the sort of game that Mikel Arteta's side seem to know how to win. It might be close, but I'd still back the Gunners to find a way.

Sutton's prediction: 0-1

Read the full predictions and have your say