It’s Auba and out for sorry Hornets WAT A SAD WAY TO GO
GOODBYE, Yellow Brick Road.
Pierre-emerick Aubameyang ended Watford’s five-year stay in the Premier League, and after the Hornets’ bonfire of head coaches, sympathy will be in short supply.
Shafted by VAR official Lee Mason in the opening seconds at the Emirates, they never stood a chance.
But after sacking Javi Gracia, Quique Sanchez Flores and Nigel Pearson, the Hornets must pay the penalty for turning their season into a basket case.
Apart from owner Gino Pozzo rotating his revolving door for managers once too often, there are other reasons why Watford are back in the Championship.
Just 34 goals in 38 games speaks for itself.
And Watford were out of the bottom three as long ago as mid-january, after the 3-0 win at Bournemouth. They had ample scope to complete a great escape, but they blew it.
Just 14 months ago, the Hornets were in the FA Cup final at Wembley. Now they face a reunion with old rivals Luton at time-warp Kenilworth Road next season.
In fairness, they went down with honour after falling 3-0 behind inside 33 minutes.
Watford missed a pile of chances, and played with commendable spirit, either side of skipper Troy Deeney’s penalty and former Gunners striker Danny Welbeck’s tap-in.
But one brave defeat was not the reason they slipped through the trapdoor with Bournemouth and Norwich.
In the end, Pozzo has no one but himself to blame.
It is a measure of how far Arsenal have fallen that they were irrelevant bystanders on the last day of term when the top four was being sorted out. Maybe the chance to relegate their old nemesis Deeney – whose infamous “cojones” barb rattled cages at the Emirates even if it rang horribly true – was a delicious incentive.
And with Saturday’s FA
Cup final against Chelsea offering them a route to Europe, here was a chance to enjoy some target practice. Two-goal Aubameyang seized it with both hands.
As if Watford’s task was not steep enough already, VAR jobsworth Mason made it a whole lot tougher inside the opening 30 seconds.
Craig Dawson’s challenge on Alexandre Lacazette looked innocuous enough, but the Gunners striker went down clutching his head and, after studying replays for almost four minutes, Mason finally found enough reason to award a penalty.
Yes, there was contact. But clear and obvious foul? You’re having a laugh. If it takes four minutes to figure out whether an offence has been committed, it’s not blatant.
Aubameyang devoured the spot-kick, his 26th goal of the season, and although Watford’s response was vibrant, their luck turned even worse after 25 minutes. Aubameyang teed-up Kieran Tierney, and although the Scotland defender’s shot was tame it took two deflections – off Will Hughes and Christian Kabasele – past the stranded Ben Foster.
And the Hornets looked a busted flush when Kabasele allowed Tierney’s long throw to bounce over his head and Aubameyang punished him with an exquisite overhead kick.
To their credit, Watford, under caretaker boss Hayden Mullins (left), never lost their fighting spirit.
Deeney buried his 10th goal of an injury-hit season from the penalty spot after David Luiz’s lunge felled Welbeck two minutes before the break.
And when Welbeck turned in Ismaila Sarr’s low centre from close range to make it 3-2 with 24 minutes left, the miracle was still possible.
But Emiliano Martinez made a crucial save to deny Welbeck an extraordinary equaliser before time, and luck, ran out on the Hornets.
We can only wonder what superstar fan and former chairman Sir Elton John makes of the mess his beloved club made of the season.
Rocket Man, it’s going to be a long, long time before Watford recover from this season.