Have Arsenal finally found some steel?
Not even Deeney can accuse them now after Gunners hang tough
FOR MANY years under Arsene Wenger Arsenal had come to be defined as a soft touch. They were beatable if you could disturb them from their elegant rhythms.
That was the well- rehearsed theory and no one summed it up more charismatically than Troy Deeney, who famously accused them of lacking cojones.
Deeney and Co came to t he Emirates and rattled their hosts with a ferocious tempo and a physical intensity that helped them dominate for spells in the game and create a series of clear chances.
The visitors probably deserved something more and yet Arsenal resisted, rode their luck, refused to concede and kept fighting until they won this game with two late goals inside two minutes.
The crucial first was an own goal, scored by Craig Cathcart who succeeded where Arsenal’ s expensive collection of attacking players failed when he turned a low cross from Alex Iwobi past Ben Foster at the near post. The second was coolly converted by Mesut Ozil and the Emirates breathed easily again and turned its attention towards Deeney.
‘What’s the score?’ they asked the Watford captain, in unison.
If there is one encouraging sign to take from the first stage of Unai Emery’ s tenure it has been a new-found resilience in defence and the ability towing ames without truly purring.
Arsenal have won seven in a row in all competitions and they have scored 19 goals in the process.
It happened against Everton on their previous Premier League outing and it happened again, this time with the added complication of an injury to goalkeeper Petr Cech in stoppage time at the end of the first half.
Cech pulled a hamstring while taking a goal kick and his replacement Bernd Leno came on to make a splendid Premier League debut.
Leno, signed from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer for £22million, sprang low to his left to save from Deeney soon after the interval and then dashed from his line to frustrate Andre Gray.
Rob Holding, brought into the centre of defence because Sokratis Papastathopoulos has been struggling with a dead leg, was targeted by Deeney but stood firm and grew in confidence alongside Shkodran Mustafi. When Arsenal’s defence were opened up they had luck on their side. Roberto Pereyra twisted Lucas Torreira inside out and curled a shot narrowly over and Deeney released Isaac Success who beat Leno from an angle only to see his effort fade, clip the far post and spin away to safety.
Watford could not convert their chances — and for a long time neither could Arsenal.
Alexandre Lacazette wasted the clearest chance of the first half when he dispossessed Cathcart on halfway, accelerated away and dragged his attempt wide as he tried to clip the ball over Foster who came skidding from goal.
Foster also beat out a sweet strike by Granit Xhaka and Lacazette headed feebly wide when well placed, picked out by an otherwise subdued Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at the end of a blistering counter-attack.
Aaron Ramsey did not appear impressed when he was replaced by Iwobi early in the second half. Ramsey, who has had a four-year contract offer withdrawn and seems determined to leave next year at the end of his deal, had taken the armband from Cech when the keeper was injured.
But this offered him no immunity as Emery tried to shake his team into life. Ramsey walked past the manager with a stern expression, no eye contact and no handshake. The armband made its way to Ozil.
‘This is the competitive spirit I want,’ said the Arsenal boss, when asked about Ramsey’s reaction. ‘ When the player wants to play every minute, I want this.’
More importantly for Emery his changes worked, especially Iwobi who was central to the two goals.
His low cross and Lacazette’s near-post run combined to draw the error out of Cathcart for the first, and his pass released Lacazette to create the second for Ozil, who tapped in from close range.
‘We need players from the bench being hungry to help the team,’ added Emery as he praised Iwobi. ‘He is working well every day. I am happy with his mentality. He is ready to play right or left.
‘ Maybe he can do more in the one v ones and I want him to stay near the box more to score or be more aggressive finding assists. This is the way for him.’
Arsenal eased up the Premier League table above Watford, who left the capital feeling sore not to have taken with them at least a point.
‘I’m very upset for my players,’ said their manager Javi Gracia, once Emery’s team-mate at Real Sociedad. ‘They deserved a better result. We had more shots, more shots on target and more genuine chances but it you don’t score you can lose.’