Why kick-off was delayed for Arsenal’s Premier League tie against Nottm Forest | Football News
Arsenal secured a 2-1 victory over Nottingham Forest in their Premier League opener at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday. Eddie Nketiah and Bukayo Saka scored a goal each for Arsenal, but the Gunners had to dig deep as Taiwo Awoniyi, who was introduced as a substitute, pulled a goal back for Forest seven minutes from the regulation 90 minutes.
Arsenal handed debut to Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber, who joined the North London club in the summer transfer window for a combined fees of over ┬г200 million ($254 million).
The three points for the home side, however, was soured as Timber suffered an injury early in the second half.
Apart from some gripping action, especially towards the end, the match got off to an embarrassing start as the kick-off was delayed by half an hour.
What was the reason behind the delay?
The start was delayed by 30 minutes after a problem with the turnstiles, which left tens of thousands of fans struggling outside the stadium.
The original kick-off was scheduled for 12:30 pm local time (1130 GMT) but it was pushed behind because of a technical issue with the club’s new digital ticketing system.
TV footage showed thousands of fans still queued outside the stadium with ten minutes remaining for the scheduled kick-off.
The turnstiles eventually opened and the match started at 1 pm local time (1200 GMT).
Manchester City start title defence on strong note
It was mostly a two-way title race between Manchester City and Arsenal last season, with the former eventually winning the league by a five-point margin. Mikel Arteta’s men will look to go one better this time around.
City kicked-off the title defence with a 3-0 win against Burnley. Usual suspect Erling Haaland started the season with a bang, completing a brace in just 36 minutes. Rodri, who scored the winner for Manchester City in their maiden UCL triumph, scored the third goal in the second half.
