Caught up in the emotion of Premier League tension, as a match that hung in the balance was suddenly seized, Unai Emery leaped about and shook his fists on the sidelines. The reserve he has tended to show went out of the window. This one, compared to the winning sequence that preceded it, seemed to count that little bit more, to mean something that bit deeper.
Once Mesut Özil tapped in Arsenal’s second goal and the result swung in their favour, Emery could allow himself to wonder whether the new ideas are slowly beginning to fall into place.
Seven successive wins is a helpful statistic, but Emery was as impressed to see how Arsenal mastered their most difficult test since the first week of the season – when they lost to Manchester City and Chelsea. This was a true test of their mettle, with Watford starting the day ahead of them in the table thanks to their well‑organised ambition, and threatening to take all the points until Arsenal scored twice in three high-energy minutes in the late summer sun.
It was a blow for Watford, who competed diligently and Javi Gracia could not disguise his disappointment to see his team again perform well and be unrewarded. “What can I say? I am very upset for my players because they deserved more, a better result. We had a very good performance with more shots, clear chances to score, and if you don’t score you can lose.”
Arsenal maintained their habit of winning games in the second half, and Emery complimented the players who came on at both ends of the pitch to make an impact. Bernd Leno made his debut, coming on in first-half stoppage time after Petr Cech injured a hamstring taking a goal-kick. The injury is expected to rule him out for up to three weeks. Cech’s replacement made a couple of eye-catching saves.
Alex Iwobi brought some thrust to Arsenal’s attack and helped to make the difference by taking responsibility in creating both goals.
Although they were on a winning streak, the feeling persists that Arsenal’s attacking groove still needed some polishing, with most of their recent results dependent on flashes of forward play rather than a clearly defined strategy.
Blending the talents of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – with Aaron Ramsey and Özil playmaking behind them – sometimes feels a bit too freeform. For much of the game only Lacazette was able to influence play, leading the line with aggression and getting into scoring positions numerous times.
Three chances came his way in the first half. He was unlucky with a penalty incident in the fifth minute as he drove into the box and was tripped by Christian Kabasele, and then failed to make the best contact with Ben Foster to beat.
In the second half, Watford grew in confidence, finding a smart balance between shielding their own goal and trying to crack it at the other end. Leno made a quick impression with a superb stretch to deny Troy Deeney from close range and Gracia rued the fact Roberto Pereyra and Isaac Success were not quite clinical enough.
With 10 minutes to go, Arsenal managed to pause the Watford pressure and do damage of their own on the break as Iwobi’s centre was tucked past Foster via Cathcart, who was trying in vain to deal with the threat of Lacazette. The points were sealed as Iwobi and Lacazette combined well to tee-up Özil.
“We need more moments to control the game over 90 minutes,” said Emery. “But the reason I am happy is we are getting more competitive with each win.”
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