Watford proved to be a tough nut to crack in a very open and fast-moving game. Although it was a deadlock at half-time, Arsenal could easily have been winning if Walcott had been more accurate with his head and Aaron Ramsey hadn’t missed two clearcut chances. But the Gunners finally got on top in the second half as the Watford team couldn’t keep up with the blistering pace of the Arsenal attack.
That man Sanchez was in the right place as usual after Ozil was tackled in the box to put us in front, and Olivier Giroud followed up after he had replaced a lacklustre Theo Walcott, and at last Ramsey got his first League goal at the 30th attempt this season! Hopefully the floodgates will now open for the Welshman.
Arsene Wenger thought that Watford made it hard for us in the first half: “To beat Watford you have to be completely committed to the game.” Le Prof said after the game. “We faced a Watford team that was well organised and knew exactly what they wanted to do. They were very physical in the challenge and very strong in the challenges and very direct. These three things together, it took us a while to get on top of that.
“In the second half, the fatigue coming in, Watford came in less in the challenges and we got the ball quicker in transition and were much more dangerous. When we scored the first goal, I like the fact we continued to attack and got a convincing win.”
Alexis Sanchez got on the scoresheet for the 6th game in a row, but Wenger admitted that he thought about giving the Chilean a rest. “I did.” he said. “Yesterday in the training session he looked quite sharp and the medical people told me he has no problem at all, then I thought I would test if he is ready and if he was not ready I would take him out. But sometimes it is easier to start the game and take the players off than when you go into the game a little bit tired, because you go with the game. So I decided to go for that.
“I believe every player hates not playing but as well you have periods as a player. When a player is on a scoring moment then sometimes the flow can be disturbed. That is why I leave him in.”
Alexis is definitely on a scoring run and he did not look tired at all. But the best thing is that his pace and confidence seems to be rubbing off on the other players too as we are taking teams apart much more easily at the moment. Arsenal needed that win after all our top rivals won earlier in the day, and we have moved back up to second place.
Onwards and Upwards!