Goals from Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka gave Mikel Arteta’s side a comfortable lead in the second half but Forest set up a nervy finish as Taiwo Awoniyi pulled a goal back in the 89th minute.
After the full-time whistle, White and Zinchenko were at the centre of a heated exchange before being separated by Arsenal players and coaching staff.
Arteta then pulled Zinchenko to one side and spoke with the Ukraine international as they left the pitch.
The Arsenal manager went on to reveal after the game that White and Zinchenko were arguing about Forest’s late goal.
The source of White’s frustration was evident from the VAR replay for Forest’s goal as it showed that Zinchenko was the one who was playing Gonzalo Montiel onside when Arsenal’s other three defenders had pushed up by two yards and were all in line.
When asked about the spat between Zinchenko and White, Arteta said: ‘I love it, they demand more from each other and they are not happy with the way they concede that and they are trying to resolve it,’ he said.
‘It was a bit heated, but that means it is not enough playing the way we played, the result has to be bigger.
‘That’s pushing each other and being not happy conceding and I have to encourage that and promote it in the right way and a respectful way.
‘Sometimes after the game, it’s emotional and heated but I love that the players are pushing each other and demanding excellence.
‘We wanted to generate some momentum in the league and I thought we did that. The performance was very good, we completely dominated the game.
‘We had to be patient but we always had an eye to the opponent, we didn’t allow them to run. We generated chances in a number of ways. I think we showed a lot of maturity to deal with the game in the way we had to.’
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