Arsenal Suffer Shock FA Cup Exit After Defeat to Lowly-Ranked Nottingham Forest

• Nottingham Forest vs Arsenal FA Cup third-round clash ended in a 1-0 defeat for the Gunners
• Lewis Grabban was Nottingham's match hero as his solitary goal fired his side to the next round
• The Championship outfit will now take on holders, Leicester City, in the next round of the tourney

Premier League giants, Arsenal, have suffered an early exit from the FA Cup following their 1-0 disappointing loss against Nottingham Forest.

Lewis Grabban was Nottingham's match hero as his solitary goal in the second half of the match fired the Championship side to the next round of the competition.

The Sunday, January 9, third-round tie staged at City Ground saw Mikel Arteta heavily rotate his squad, with Charlie Patino, Eddie Nketiah, and Sambi Lokonga all starting.

However, the Gunners were unable to see off the hosts as they were completely dominated for the better part of the encounter.

So dominant Forest were that Arteta was forced into an early tactical tweak as he withdrew Nuno Tavares in favour of Kieran Tierney.

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But that had little to no impact as there was nothing to separate the two sides at the break, with the hosts’ early exuberance dissipating in the closing stages of the half.

Nketiah had the best chance to hand Arsenal the lead minutes after the interval but misjudged the header badly as the ball skewed back across the face of goal before bobbling out of play.

The match looked set for a draw after the regulation time, only for Grabban to fire the home side into the lead with eight minutes left on the clock.

Efforts by Arteta's charges to equalise proved futile as Forest held on claim an important win at home.

The Championship side will now take on FA Cup holders, Leicester City, in the fourth round of the competition.

Salima Mukansanga becomes AFCON's first ever female referee

Earlier, Sports Brief reported Salima Mukansanga was among 63 match officials selected to officiate the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

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The list features three other females including Carine Atemzabong, Fatiha Jermoumi of Morocco, and Bouchra Karboubi.

However, only Mukansanga has been afforded the rare opportunity of officiating matches as a centre referee.

This will make her the first-ever female match official to officiate a major men's football tournament in Africa.