Watford goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes earned the ire of Arsenal fans with his comments about the Gunners’ lack of grit following their exit in the FA Cup quarterfinal three weeks ago thanks to the Hornets.
However, the former Tottenham man’s comments were not entirely uncalled for, with Arsenal out of the Champions League and FA Cup and their Premier League hopes not in their hands. It remained to be seen if Arsenal, who won a tricky fixture away at Everton prior to the international break, could exact revenge over Quique Sanchez Flores’ men, who had only picked up 8 points since January - a run of form only better than basement boys Aston Villa.
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It proved to be a virtual no-contest at the Emirates, with Arsenal waltzing to a 4-0 win over the hapless Hornets, with goals from Alexis Sanchez, Alex Iwobi, Hector Bellerin and Theo Walcott.
Here are five major talking points from the game:
Sublime Arsenal too late to the party again
It was the performance we had all been waiting for from Arsenal, but alas as it has often been the trend in the last few years, it has come at a point in the season where Arsenal can only have a chance at the title should the teams ahead of them slip up.
Alex Iwobi provided the ball for Alexis Sanchez inside the first 5 minutes on the back of a sensational start from the Gunners. Alexis seems to have finally rediscovered his mojo – he provided the assists for Iwobi and Bellerin to put the match beyond the hornets.
Substitutes Joel Campbell combined to add a fourth in the dying embers of the match.
Performances like these please and miff Arsenal fans at the same time, as they wonder how almost the same team capitulated three weeks ago to crash out of the FA Cup. Wenger surely needs to build upon this squad in the summer, as their inconsistency has most likely denied them the title this year.
The party is meandering to a tame end for the Hornets
The rise of Leicester City in the first half of the season masked a similarly outstanding run by the newly promoted Watford side – a run which saw the Hornets rise to as high as 6th in the League. However, all signs of that verve and fight have fizzled out.
The Hornets are too dependent on their strike partnership of Tory Deeney and Odion Ighalo – the latter was at one point challenging to be the League’s top scorer. Since then, Watford’s decline has coincided with Ighalo’s prolonged lull in form, peppered only by the goal he scored in the win over Arsenal in the FA Cup.
Without these two, who might leave come the summer, Watford will find Premier League survival extremely difficult as they just can’t find a way to score in case Plan A doesn’t work.
Arsenal firing on all cylinders
Arsene Wenger will be pleased with this recent upturn of form. Two clean sheets and six goals scored against tricky teams like Everton and Watford. However, what will especially please the Professor is that practically all of his attacking players are on song.
Alexis, Alex Iwobi, Mesut Ozil, Joel Campbell and Theo Walcott all had a big say in today’s game. Olivier Giroud was in great form in the international break, and Danny Welbeck is hitting his strides. Wenger’s unwavering faith in his attackers, and his decision to not sign any attacking reinforcements seems to be justified, for now.
However, the problem still is that they have gone missing in the most important games of the season, and Wenger might yet be forced to sign one of the likes of Higuain, Aubameyang or even Ibrahimovic.
Alex Iwobi is here to stay
Safe to say Alexander Iwobi has been having a brilliant couple of weeks. A good game in the Camp Nou against Barcelona was followed up by his first goal for the senior Arsenal team against Everton at Goodison Park.
The international break saw him make his full international debut for his homeland Nigeria, as the Super Eagles took on Egypt at home. Iwobi could easily have chosen the more glamorous option in turning out for England, but followed in his uncle, Jay Jay Okocha’s footsteps to represent Nigeria.
His junior coaches have been all praise for him, and he has been specially mentored by Arsene Wenger over the last couple of years. He has been tipped for big things in the future, and another goal and assist to his name will only add to his belief.
What the teams must do to make the season a success
Arsenal are out of the FA Cup and Champions League. They have only 7 games left to play as they seek to close the gap on sworn rivals Tottenham and surprise package Leicester City at the top. It is safe to assume that they will surely qualify for the Champions League (or is it?).
They can only hope to replicate a performance like this for the next seven match days, and hope their rivals slip up. Apart from doing their bit, they can only pray that they end up above Leicester, or at the very least above Tottenham .
Watford, even though they are on a dismal run of form, can afford to sit back and enjoy their football. Nobody expected more than a mid-table finish, and with survival practically ensured, they can turn all their attention to their big FA Cup semi-final clash against a struggling Crystal Palace.
Should they win that, and put in a dogged effort in the final, who knows, this may be their best ever season in their club history.
