CECH PROFITS FROM FALL OF TROY
Penalty miss gives Arsenal last laugh after ‘cojones’ jibe comes back to haunt Deeney
NO MATTER what the result, Troy Deeney does bravado pretty well indeed. So it was that 20 minutes or so after his pivotal missed penalty at the Emirates, the Watford captain was seen sharing a laugh and a joke on the field with Arsenal’s Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
He had his hand over his mouth in that weird way that has become fashionable when footballers have things of great import to discuss. But we could still see the smiles. Then, at full time, Deeney was last off the field, offering another smile and some applause to the knot of Arsenal fans who had gathered to wave him off down the tunnel.
So the message was clear. He wasn’t broken. He can cope. It was OK.
But deep down, Deeney will know what his error from the penalty spot meant. He will know that it cost his team a way back into a game and also that the high ground he appeared to take from Arsenal after Watford beat them back in October had just been handed back again.
It is hard to take against Deeney really. He is as whole-hearted as they come, a committed player who has made the very most of his talent and who has made a significant contribution to Watford’s consolidation as a Premier League club in recent years.
If he played for your club, you would love him to bits. But the problem with setting yourself up for a fall is that, occasionally, you will indeed fall. And when it comes, it hurts.
Awarded a penalty with half an hour left at the Emirates, Deeney had the chance to cut Arsenal’s lead from two goals to one. Given Arsenal’s recent football, anything could have happened from that point on. But when it mattered a player who had questioned Arsenal’s ‘cojones’ after Watford beat them in the autumn couldn’t hold his own nerve.
His penalty was far too close to Petr Cech and also too high. So the Arsenal goalkeeper was able to make his first penalty save since late 2011 and subsequently earn his 200th clean sheet in the Premier League.
To say it was the definitive moment of the game is not to overstate it. Moments earlier Arsenal had taken a 2-0 lead but Watford had been well in the game up until that point and a goal would have threatened to change the dynamic.
Watford were a threat to Arsenal all afternoon, despite the fact that the home team themselves could have scored more goals also. It was one of those days when both goalkeepers had good games and Cech was actually named man of the match by Arsenal’s own stadium announcer.
That was probably a sentimental call. There were other deserving candidates such as the strong central player Mohamed Elneny and the Armenian Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who started slowly to grow into the game and create a goal and score another.
But, yes, this was end-to-end stuff throughout.
Watford and their latest coach Javi Gracia will take heart from how well they competed with a good side and Arsenal will merely treasure the result after recent domestic setbacks.
After back-to-back 3-0 defeats by Manchester City in the Carabao Cup and Premier League that left Wenger’s men looking miles off the pace set by the Pep Guardiola’s team, Arsenal’s win in Milan had not sufficiently emboldened their supporters to fill the stadium. There were plenty of empty seats at kick-off.
Despite that, Arsenal started brightly and exploited spaces early on.
Big-money January signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was denied by goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis after Mesut Ozil released him and then Shkodran Mustafi rose to head in a free-kick in only the eighth minute.
Arsenal did look dangerous when they attacked and Ozil was denied by a super one-on-one save by Karnezis.
But Watford were dangerous too and three times came close in the first half as Abdoulaye Doucoure was denied by Cech, Roberto Pereyra lashed a rebound over an open goal and the Brazilian Richarlison brought another good save from the Arsenal goalkeeper moments before the whistle for the interval. Only one goal ahead at halftime, Arsenal were vulnerable but it was Wenger’s team who scored next when Watford switched off after putting them under 15 minutes of pressure.
A long Cech clearance was picked up by former Manchester United man Mkhitaryan on the hour and when he drove forwards into space he was able to play in Aubameyang who rounded the goalkeeper to score the third goal of his Arsenal career. After that came Deeney’s big moment. And beyond that, the life disappeared from Watford.
Mkhitaryan added some gloss to the scoreline after Aubameyang set him up following Ozil’s run to the byline with 13 minutes left.
A three-goal margin felt excessive but if you fail when the big moments come against stiff opposition this is what can happen.
ARSENAL: (4-2-3-1) Cech 8; Maitland-Niles 6.5, Mustafi 7 (Chambers 73min, 6), Holding 6.5, Kolasinac 6.5; ELNENY 8, Xhaka 7; Mkhitaryan 7 (Wilshere 78), Ozil 7, Iwobi 6.5 (Welbeck 67, 6); Aubameyang 7. Subs not used: Ospina, Nelson, Nketiah, Willock. Scorers: Mustafi 8, Aubameyang 59, Mkhitaryan 77. Booked: Xhaka, Mustafi. Manager: Arsene Wenger 7. WATFORD: (4-4-2) Karnezis 7.5; Janmaat 6.5 (Britos 80) , Prodl 6.5, Mariappa 6, Holebas 6; Femenia 6 (Hughes 62, 6), Doucoure 6.5, Capoue 6.5, Pereyra 6.5 (Okaka 67, 6); Richarlison 7, Deeney 6. Subs not used: Sinclair, Gray, Carrillo, Bachmann. Booked: Holebas. Manager: Javi Gracia 6. Referee: Martin Atkinson 7. Attendance: 59,131.