Kieran Tierney made his debut for Arsenal and young striker Gabriel Martinelli scored twice as they thumped Nottingham Forest 5-0 in the third round of the Carabao Cup.
Martinelli opened the scoring on his starting debut for the club in the first half, and Rob Holding headed home a second after the break before late strikes from Joe Willock and Reiss Nelson. Martinelli then added his second in stoppage time.
Forest shocked Arsenal in the FA Cup when the met in the third round at the start of 2018, but there would be no surprise result on their first-ever trip to the Emirates Stadium.
In the end, it took a wonderful, lightning-quick move after 31 minutes for them to find the breakthrough, as Nelson found Calum Chambers out on the right and his first-time volleyed cross was met by the 18-year-old Martinelli with a firm header, leaving Manchester City loanee Ari Muric with no chance in goal.
One concern for Arsenal will be the injury suffered by Emile Smith Rowe, who was forced off just before the break on a stretcher after suffering in an aerial collision when forcing a fine save out of Muric with a header.
His replacement, Bukayo Saka, created their first big chance of the second half on 67 minutes as his jinking run and cross found Willock at the back stick, but he somehow managed to head wide from just a couple of yards.
Four minutes later, however, Arsenal would have the second that opened the floodgates. Holding was the man who got it as he capped his return to the side, rising to meet a Nelson corner and powering a header home.
And there was yet more positive news to come for Arsenal as Hector Bellerin made his return to the side as a late substitute for Tierney, and within a minute of his arrival, he created their third, squaring for Willock to turn the ball in from close range.
Nelson, who enjoyed a fine night himself, then added their fourth as he turned home another impressive Chambers ball in after 84 minutes, and Martinelli’s heavily-deflected effort from the edge of the area in added time put the icing on the cake for Arsenal.
