Ranieri accuses Arsenal of lack of ‘respect’ over disputed winner
Claudio Ranieri, the Watford head coach, claimed Arsenal showed a lack of respect after scoring their winning goal in controversial circumstances at the Emirates Stadium.
Emile Smith Rowe’s second-half strike came just moments after Watford had kicked the ball out of play due to an injury to Ozan Tufan. Rather than subsequently returning possession to the visitors, Arsenal went on the attack and eventually found the net through Smith Rowe’s driven effort.
Ranieri and his counterpart, Mikel Arteta, were involved in a tense exchange on the touchline at the final whistle, with the Watford head coach clearly incensed by the nature of the deciding goal. Ranieri also felt there was a foul in the buildup to Smith Rowe’s strike.
“We put out the ball and everybody expected the Arsenal player to give it back,” Ranieri said. “Give the ball to us. We put the ball out because there was an injured player, but after this it was very strange. My opinion is there was [also] a big foul, but nothing happened and then they scored.” Asked what he had told Arteta at the final whistle, Ranieri added: “I told him there is no respect in that action.”
It had been a feisty afternoon, with Watford committing a series of fouls in the first half as they looked to disrupt Arsenal’s passing game. Danny Rose conceded a remarkable penalty, which was missed by Pierre-emerick Aubameyang, by charging at Alexandre Lacazette’s neck with his elbow.
Arteta defended his players, saying they were generally the league’s most honest team and were often naive in moments such as those which led to Smith Rowe’s strike.
“I have to defend my players, my team and my club,” said Arteta, who was overseeing his 100th match as Arsenal manager. “I would say that we are the most honest team and in some stages we can even become naive. But still if he [Ranieri] felt like that towards our club, our team, I have to apologise if that is the case. But I am sure there is no intention to take any advantage.”
The victory moved Arsenal into fifth place in the Premier League and extended their unbeaten run to 10 matches. It has been a remarkable turnaround in form since the start of the season, when they lost three consecutive games, and Smith Rowe’s goals have been crucial to Arsenal’s resurgence.
The 21-year-old has now scored in three league games in a row, having been challenged by Arteta last season to add more goals and assists to his game. Smith Rowe had been left out of Gareth Southgate’s England squad last week but there is no questioning his importance to Arsenal, where he has been the most influential player recently.
Smith Rowe’s intervention saved the blushes of Aubameyang, who followed up his penalty miss by snatching a goal away from Martin Odegaard in the second half. Odegaard’s shot appeared to be goalbound when Aubameyang stuck out his studs in an offside position.
Aubameyang has now missed his past two penalties, with Ben Foster denying the Arsenal captain here, but Arteta insisted: “He will stay on penalties if he is happy to do so. You will miss if you take penalties. This is part of your career and job, and we will try to help him.”
Watford’s late attempts to score an equaliser had caused nervousness in the Arsenal back line, with Joshua King almost scoring in an empty net after Aaron Ramsdale had failed to clear a long ball, but they lacked the incision provided by Smith Rowe in the first half.
Watford are just two points clear of the relegation zone going into the international break, and face a peril