LUCKY GUNNERS
Freak goal fires Arsenal into top four
ARSENAL boosted their hopes of a top-four finish in the Premier League after a bizarre 10th-minute goal by striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gave them a 1-0 win at 10-man Watford on Monday.
The result lifted the Gunners two places up to fourth on 66 points from 33 games, one behind third-placed Tottenham Hotspur.
Arsenal are ahead of fifthplaced Chelsea, who have played a game more, on goal difference. Watford stayed 10th with 46 points.
“We didn’t control the match like I wanted,” Arsenal manager Unai Emery admitted. “The team was anxious because they could (have) taken some moment. The most important for us is to score the second goal, which we didn’t do.”
Emery, however, was pleased with his team’s first away clean sheet of the season.
“A clean sheet is very important,” he told the BBC. “It is going to give us a lot of information, this match.”
The fast-paced clash took a decisive turn in a frantic oneminute spell early on, as Aubameyang found the back of the net in unlikely fashion before Watford striker Troy Deeney was shown a straight red card for elbowing
Lucas Torreira.
The home side’s goalkeeper Ben Foster dwelled on Daryl Janmaat’s back pass for too long, allowing Aubameyang to close him down and block his attempted goalmouth clearance as the ball ricocheted into the back of the net.
Foster made no excuses for his howler.
“I’ve said sorry to the lads,” he said. “I tried to drag it on to my left and pass it out but before I knew it Aubameyang was bloody on me. He is too quick. In hindsight you have to get rid (of the ball) as quick as you can, even if it goes into row Z.”
Despite their numerical disadvantage, Watford kept pressing and missed a string of chances to draw level, having twice been denied by the woodwork as well as by some good saves from Arsenal keeper Bernd Leno.
The home side missed their best opportunity in the 80th minute when Arsenal substitute Ainsley Maitland-Niles slid in to block Andre Gray’s goal-bound effort after the Watford forward rounded Leno.
Aubameyang, Alex Iwobi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan also came close at the other end but Arsenal were forced to hang on in the closing stages with Watford throwing men forward.
Watford manager Javi Gracia praised his team for their fighting spirit in the face of adversity.
“We did a lot of things to try to win, a big effort,” he said. “We didn’t get any points but we played well. It was a difficult game with 10 men.”
Meanwhile, Denis Suarez’s future at Arsenal has been placed under further jeopardy after it emerged that he is now being dogged by a persistent groin injury.
Suarez, 25, signed for Arsenal on loan from Barcelona in January but the Spaniard has only made six substitute appearances since arriving at the club. His last showing was in the 2-0 victory over Manchester United on March 10.
Suarez has been hampered by pain during training sessions over recent weeks and Arsenal’s physiotherapists are now suggesting he reduces his role in training in the coming days to see whether the inflammation can be managed better.
Suarez is likely to hold talks with Emery to lessen his role in training in a bid to ease the problem.
The pain is along the pubic bone and there are fears it may be a sports hernia injury but Suarez is keen is to see whether a short period of rest will see the problem resolve itself. The pain is at its most intense when twisting and turning quickly.
It is possible to play through the injury under duress but Suarez is desperate to be fully fit in order to break into the Arsenal team for their final Premier League matches of the season and the Europa League run-in.
Suarez turned down approaches from major Spanish clubs in January after Emery personally called the player to convince him to move to London.
Arsenal do have an option to sign the player in a permanent deal this summer but such a move is in a serious doubt from both the club and the player after he received such a small amount of game time.