Arsenal faced off against Watford in a game that should have been rather easy for them. However, things did not go as per plan for the Gunners, who had to fight really hard to take back all three points from the game. It was far from a convincing performance by the hosts, who had a lot of chances to open the scoring, but failed to do so right through the first half.
Alexandre Lacazette was the main culprit, who got quite a few opportunities to score for the north London outfit, though the Frenchman failed to deliver. He wasted chance after chance and eventually was frustrated by the way that he played right through the opening 45.
Things did not improve for him in the second half as well, as he got more chances to score, though it was eventually an own goal by Cathcart, that gave the home side the lead in the match in the 81st minute. Lacazette was surely influential in forcing this error by the defender, though it was more of a result of Iwobi’s superb play rather.
Eventually, it took the Londoners just a couple of minutes to produce the second goal of the game, as Ozil put one into the back of the net, with Lacazette claiming an assist. He played a key part in the goal this time and eventually he made up for the missed chances that he had gotten, earlier in the match.
The game did end in a 2-0 win for the hosts, though it did not tell the complete story. It was not an easy win by any stretch of imagination. It was a hard-fought triumph rather for the hosts, who had produced some magic in quick succession and sunk the ship for their opponents on the night.
Javi Gracia would surely have not been happy with what he had just seen, as his team had thrown away the game, after producing some really good chances to score for themselves as well. They could have grabbed the advantage, if only they had converted the chances that they were given by their opponents.
The main loss for Arsenal was that Petr Cech went off with an injury towards the end of the first half and was replaced by Bernd Leno, who made his debut in the Premier League. The positive for Unai Emery’s side was that they managed to once again keep a clean sheet, which will add to the confidence of their team.
Mustafi was once again poor and should be sold. There is no doubt in my mind about it. Aaron Ramsey was taken off in the second half to bring in Iwobi, which was the most influential call.
Despite it being a smart decision, it might not have a positive impact on the contract negotiations that are going on between the Welshman and the club. If only Emery can sort this issue out and the Cech injury isn’t too serious, it will once again be a great result for the Spaniard, who will be hoping for an improved performance from his side in the games to come.
