Newcastle United win at Nottingham Forest teaches Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta a lesson

As Mikel Arteta addressed the media in the bowels of St James' Park earlier this month, he looked as though he wanted to be anywhere else in the world. “They are really good at what they do,” the Arsenal boss said of Newcastle United, who had just kept his side uncharacteristically quiet, making them look pretty bang average in the process.

Arteta's backhanded compliment was aimed to insinuate that Newcastle had drawn Arsenal into a game they did not want to play. In truth, the home side had simply delivered a physical - but fair - performance and defended well against a rather toothless Gunners attack.

Fast forward eight days and the response of Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo could hardly be further from Arteta's post-match delivery. The Forest manager had just watched his side be taken apart in their own backyard but was wholly complimentary about Eddie Howe's side.

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“We have to give credit to Newcastle because they were a good team who were able to control us and punish us," he told reporters post-match. “They are a very good team and a tough team to play against, Eddie Howe is a very talented manager and they have talented players.

“I cannot say it is a bad performance, honestly. They were able to take advantage of some decisions we made when we were rushing our decisions and they punished us on the counter-attack. They have pace and they have quality, they were lethal with the chances they had.”

Nuno's summation of Newcastle's performance is spot on. The Magpies punished Forest at their own game, striking twice on the counter in the closing stages to pull two goals ahead.

Newcastle enjoyed more possession, more shots - both on and off target - more passes with better accuracy, more corners, fewer fouls and fewer offsides. It ranks as one of the away side's best performances of the campaign - against one of the league's most in-form sides.

Arteta is naturally looking up the table rather than behind as Arsenal attempt to chase down runaway leaders Liverpool. However, the Spaniard may well need to pay attention to those below his north London outfit as Howe's Newcastle sit just one point behind them, despite four teams separating them in the Premier League table.

Forest are another side who are just a single point above Newcastle after this weekend's results but Nuno needs no reminding of the threat the Magpies pose after Sunday's stellar showing at the City Ground.