Wenger left ‘worried’ by Emirates’ empty seats
The moment received the biggest cheer of the afternoon. It was not when any of Arsenal’s three goals were scored, or when the final whistle was blown and they had arrested their run of three successive Premier League defeats.
Instead it was the pivotal incident when Troy Deeney had to show the “cojones”, the mental strength, that he said Arsenal lacked after the last meeting between these two sides in October when he came on as a substitute to turn the game around.
Deeney scored from the penalty spot then – and he was presented with the chance, immediately after Arsenal had gone into a 2-0 lead, to do so again here. There were more than 30 minutes still to play and the home side had been wobbling when Deeney had the golden opportunity to get his team back into it. But the striker’s kick was far too straight and Petr Cech diverted it away with an outstretched arm.
It was the first time, at the 16th attempt, that Cech had saved a penalty in Arsenal colours, and it helped him – finally – to collect a 200th clean sheet in the Premier League. The 35-year-old therefore became the first goalkeeper to reach that mark, having been stuck on 199 since mid-december.
Asked whether Deeney’s comments had fired up his players, Arsene Wenger acknowledged that it had been a factor.
“You know you cannot be a footballer without pride,” he said – and there has been a lot of wounded pride at Arsenal this season. “You cannot be in this sport without pride. All these things count always a little bit. For how much I don’t know. But of course it plays a part.”
How the Arsenal fans also delighted in Deeney’s failure, or at least those who turned up. Anger has turned to apathy at the Emirates and there were thousands of empty seats as this game unfolded, which will be of concern to the club. Of course there were 59,131 seats ‘sold’, but a lot were unoccupied.
Many, many fans voted with their feet, and this was not in anticipation of a defeat against Manchester City on a freezing cold night, as with their previous home game, but for a fixture against mid-table Watford on a Sunday lunchtime. “Your ground’s too big for you,” taunted the Watford supporters early on. For Wenger there is, nevertheless, obvious relief at this result, even if it was also evident that he is now prioritising the Europa League, making six changes from the side that gained a 2-0 lead away to AC Milan in the first leg of Arsenal’s last-16 tie.
They face the same opponents at the Emirates on Thursday and Wenger knows that with the chance of finishing in the top four gone, his only hope of Champions League qualification, and maybe saving his job, is to win the Europa League.
It is a gamble. And despite the scoreline, so was this game, one in which Cech was Arsenal’s man of the match. Once more, they looked vulnerable every time their opponents attacked, all the more alarming considering the early grip they had taken.
In fact, Arsenal could have scored even before they did in the eighth minute. Already, Watford goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis had saved well from Pierre-emerick Aubameyang (left), diverting his shot for a corner with his leg when the striker was slipped through by Mesut Ozil, before he was beaten.
Ozil’s free-kick was met by Shkodran Mustafi, who guided his header back across goal after being left unmarked by Adrian Mariappa and Jose Holebas. It was also the 1,000th goal Arsenal had scored in the Premier League at home, with only Manchester United having reached that mark quicker.
At that point it felt like it would be a long afternoon for Watford, but they soon began to rack up chances. Firstly, Richarlison was put clear by Roberto Pereyra with a long ball, but he checked rather than shot, with the opportunity opening up for the onrushing Abdoulaye Doucoure. His low drive was smartly blocked by Cech.
Then they should have levelled when Richarlison’s free-kick was pushed out by a scrambling Cech, only for Pereyra to blast the rebound over when he surely had to score or pass to the unmarked Mariappa.
Immediately Arsenal countered and appeared set to double their advantage, with Ozil nudging the ball past Mariappa to put himself through on goal, only for Karnezis to save with his legs. On half-time a cross by Kiko Femenia was met by Richarlison, whose near-post header was pushed away by Cech.
Arsenal were careless, and Watford will have felt they did not deserve to be behind. But, instead, they conceded again in the 59th minute when Henrikh Mkhitaryan ran through the middle and slipped a pass to Aubameyang. Karnezis rushed out but stopped, realising he was not going to get there, with the striker rounding him before clipping the ball into the empty net.
Soon after, Watford were awarded their penalty as Pereyra dribbled into the area and was caught by Ainsley Maitland-niles with an outstretched trailing leg. Deeney’s kick was saved and Watford lost heart, with Ozil running free down the left and crossing low. The ball was pushed out by Karnezis, but only to Aubameyang, who turned and passed to Mkhitaryan. He sidefooted home to end any doubt.
“Deeney, Deeney, what’s the score?” taunted the Arsenal fans, while Hector Bellerin – who had conceded the penalty when Arsenal lost to Watford last autumn – trolled Deeney by tweeting: “Looks like you couldn’t see today either.” Arsene Wenger admitted he was concerned by the swathes of empty seats that overshadowed Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Watford yesterday.
Thousands of home supporters stayed away for the second time in just over a week following another mass no-show during their 3-0 defeat to Manchester City.
That match took place in the midst of the weather front that brought snow and freezing temperatures to the UK, with yesterday’s repeat prompting Gary Neville to post on Twitter: “Must be -4 and snowing again at the Emirates.”
But it was no laughing matter for the Arsenal manager, who blamed the no-show on a “nightmare” run of four defeats in just over a week.
“Yes, of course I worry because I want our fans to be behind the team and happy,” Wenger said after a game that followed a fans’ forum at which chief executive Ivan Gazidis pointedly refused to discuss the Frenchman’s future. “We have to