Arsenal 3-2 Watford FC
As starts go, this must only have featured in the Premier League nightmares of Watford players and fans alike.
In a week which has seen them part company with their manager and then ship four goals at home, the last thing they needed for their visit to the Emirates Stadium was to concede an early goal.
Yet within 60 seconds that is exactly what happened as Alexandre Lacazette went down in the box under a challenge from Craig Dawson and – after yet another long and surely unnecessary wait for a VAR ruling – a spot-kick was awarded and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang sent Ben Foster the wrong way from the spot.
It was Foster who had said in the build-up to this encounter that his side’s confidence was ‘crazy low’ and this seemed like another dagger to the heart.
And so, the scene was set for a miserable afternoon for the Hornets and their loyal following. Their five-year stay in the top-flight is officially over.
Although the sharp dose of reality has been confirmed today, their relegation isn’t as a result of this afternoon’s encounter – indeed they were the better side for the opening 25 minutes yet found themselves two goals behind – but instead will be seen by many as the climax of events which the club’s trigger-happy owner has instigated.
While more information about the row which removed Nigel Pearson as boss a week ago will surely emerge over the next few weeks, it is a decision which has proven extremely costly.
Highlights of the game
The truth is that under the caretaker management of Hayden Mullins and Graham Stack, and fixtures against Manchester City and Arsenal, Watford never really stood a chance.
Had they equalised in the 13th minute when not one but two golden opportunities presented themselves, the outcome may have been different. But Ismaila Sarr and Abdoulaye Doucoure both decided pass to a team-mate when they were better placed to shoot.
Likewise, had the man who has so often been their savour, skipper Troy Deeney, not headed the ball into a defender’s face with the goal gaping, they may have had a chance.
But, as if to prove this was not their day, within a short time a Kieran Tierney shot which was heading wide flicked off Will Hughes and Arsenal were 2-0 in front.
The Premier League 2020 betting odds on Watford surviving now required a miraculous turnaround.
Stunned and deflated, it was all over eight minutes later as Tierney again played a key part, a throw causing danger in the box and Aubameyang acrobatically taking advantage of non-existent defending.
A glimmer of hope arrived just before the break when David Luiz fouled Danny Welbeck and Deeney blasted home the penalty.
Without a victory in their last seven Premier League away games, Watford continued to push forward after the break – they had little option – and Adam Masina’s volley probably should have found the roof of the net instead of the roof of the stand.
The chances kept coming at both ends.
The visitors would have fallen further behind just after the hour but for the alert Foster tipping away an Ainsley Maitland-Niles shot. Then, Emiliano Martinez, someone who has impressed me greatly since the restart, produced an even better stop to keep out Welbeck.
Welbeck wasn’t being denied a goal against his former club as he further reduced the arrears, tapping the ball home from close range after Martinez failed to cut out a Sarr cross.
The diving goalkeeper soon redeemed himself to keep out a Welbeck backheel and then Foster’s chest kept out what would have been a match-sealing Aubameyang hat-trick.
However, there were to be no more Premier League 2020 highlights for the spirited visitors and it was a rather sad end to see such a proud club lose their place amongst the elite.
Had the likes of Etienne Capoue (for the final three games) and, particularly, Gerard Deulofeu (out since late February) been fit, this SBOBET observer believes Watford would have survived.
Yet I suspect without the rash decision to part company with Pearson a week ago, they would also have Premier League football to look forward to next term.
The players and fans deserved better even if, one suspects, the owner did not.
Key statistics
Aubameyang has scored six goals in his five Premier League games against Watford and 13 Premier League goals in his last 11 appearances against sides starting the day in the relegation zone.
His opener was also Arsenal’s earliest Premier League goal from the penalty spot since Marc Overmars netted against Middlesbrough in April 1999 after just four minutes.
Luiz has given away five penalties in the Premier League this season, the most any player has ever conceded in a single campaign in the competition.
Welbeck (Man Utd, Arsenal, Watford) became the fourth player to score a goal at the Emirates Stadium for three different club sides, after Eduardo Da Silva, Dimitar Berbatov and Younes Kaboul.
Arsenal have won six of their seven Premier League home games against Watford.
Watford have scored the opening goal in just one of the 14 Premier League meetings between the sides – that was in their only league win at the Emirates Stadium in January 2017, when Kaboul and Deeney netted inside the opening 13 minutes.
Their only other win at the Emirates came in an FA Cup quarter-final in March 2016.
Arsenal have finished eight – their lowest league position at the end of a season since coming 12th in 1994-95.
The Gunners are unbeaten in their past nine home league games (won seven, drawn two), scoring 21 goals and conceding seven during this run.
They have scored in 68 of their last 71 league fixtures at the Emirates, only failing to net against Manchester City (on three occasions).
Arsenal have won their final league match in each of the past eight seasons, and have not lost at home on the final day since being defeated by Tottenham in 1993, in the Premier League’s inaugural campaign.
What’s next?
Well, that is it as far as the much-disrupted 2019-20 Premier League season is concerned.
Arsenal do have the seasonal showpiece to look forward to and meet Chelsea in next weekend’s FA Cup Final with the chance to end the season with silverware.
Watford, meanwhile, will now lick their wounds and have time to reflect on their actions and begin life in the Championship next term.
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