WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT COJONES? Gunners make Watford striker eat his words in grudge match with

Mustafi 8, Aubameyang 59, Mkhitaryan 77 THEY finally proved they have cojones after all.

Arsenal have waited five months to have the last laugh on Troy Deeney and did it with a victory not just about guts but class as well.

The irony that Deeney, who famously questioned Arsenal’s cojones when Watford rolled them over at Vicarage Road in October, bottled it from the penalty spot made it all the sweeter.

Gunners keeper Petr Cech made a terrific save from Deeney’s kick to reach a milestone of 200 Premier League clean sheets. It left the stadium chanting: “Deeney, Deeney what’s the score?” Deeney’s words had really stuck in the throat for Arsenal, both the players and the fans did not like it and the team dug deep to deliver an important win.

Manager Arsene Wenger reckoned it was all about proving they could answer Deeney’s criticism on the pitch.

He said: “You know you cannot be a footballer without pride, you cannot be in this sport without pride. Of course it plays a part.”

Arsenal need to enjoy small victories at the moment but this felt like quite a big one in the circumstances. Arsene Wenger made six changes and put out an unfamiliar line-up to save players for the Europa League return leg with AC Milan on Thursday and anything other than victory would have been a disaster.

But quite where that leaves the Wenger-o-meter is anyone’s guess. Back-toback wins against Milan and Watford and suddenly it’s looking like ‘Wenger In’ again.

However, the huge rafts of empty seats tells another story as, even though the official attendance of 59,131 includes all the season tickets sold, the club’s best estimate was around 45,000.

That is a worrying trend. Against Manchester City 10 days ago, the empty seats were blamed on the weather. This time it’s hard to believe so many fans were taking their mum out for lunch as a Mother’s Day treat. At least those who turned up saw January signings Pierre-emerick