Arsenal’s resumed their fine form in the league, with an away-victory at Watford. This was a comfortable win with 3 spectacular second-half goals from Alexis Sanchez, Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud who came in for Theo Walcott a little before getting onto the score sheet. Here is a brief review of another emphatic win for the gunners. Arsenal scored against a side that had till this point conceded very few goals at home, and the Gunners can only be proud of themselves for the way in which they have won this game.
Arsenal started slowly, and allowed their opponents some room on the break. Initially, Arsenal played from the back with a slow build up, providing an impression that this may end up to be a disastrous tactic. However, it worked effectively in favor of the Gunners. Watford’s forward line consisting of Watford skipper Troy Deeney and Nigerian International Odion Ighalo rushed their game-play the moment they got a chance on a counter or run towards goal in the first half. This exhausted most of Watford’s attacking line, both physically, and strategically. Arsenal created several chances in the first half, most notably a beautiful delivery into the box by Alexis Sanchez, only for it to be looped upon the crossbar by Aaron Ramsey, whose late run was spotted immediately by the Chilean. In addition, Laurent Koscielny came close to scoring from a corner, while Theo Walcott could have given the Gunners a lead on a few occasions had he timed his runs a little more perfectly. For the Hornets, it was a night which saw their shots miss the target by miles on more than one occasion. Troy Deeney managed to steal the ball off Francis Coquelin and had almost scored in the first half, but his shot was not enough to trouble Petr Cech at goal.
The second half, initially at the least, seemed like an extension of the first half; gradual, supplemented by a few midfield battles on the break. Soon enough, Arsenal began to play with a little more energy, although their tactic of letting the home team have the ball was not compromised completely. Alexis Sanchez scored Arsenal’s first goal, capitalizing on an advantage correctly played out by the referee in Watford’s 18 yard box, when Mesut Ozil was fouled for what seemed like a definite penalty. The Hornets were not pleased with this decision , for it was a tackle on Etienne Capoue by Francis Coquelin near Arsenal’s 18 yard box that led to the counter resulting in Alexis’s goal. While Watford’s players appealed, the referee dismissed and rejected the idea that the tackle was a rightful penalty.
Olivier Giroud came on to replace Theo Walcott and score soon after, thanks to a beautifully placed Mesut Ozil ball from the far post which reached the German playmaker after an Aaron Ramsey effort was deflected and placed back into the centre towards Giroud while still in the air. A little later, Aaron Ramsey got onto the score sheet, converting after a cleverly placed pass from Hector Bellerin.
Later on, Arsenal cancelled out the Hornets in the middle of the park, and did not , like the rest of the game, ever look threatened by the home side.
Arsenal scored three goals in the span of a few minutes, thanks to a well though out plan by Wenger which the Gunners were able to execute perfectly. Everything worked to Arsenal’s advantage: they let the opponents have the ball and capitalized perfectly on their glitches. Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin kept the ball in the centre compacting the midfield once again. Laurent Koscielny came back into the Arsenal side and defended in ways that reminded us fans why were were missing him all along, and Mesut Ozil was a class apart. Over all, Arsenal can only feel good about themselves. Arsenal cannot possibly go into a Champion’s League game against Bayern Munich in better form than this, and one can only hope that they will play to win, and nothing less.
