Resilient Gunners Win vs Watford

Arsenal hosted Watford for Ben Foster’s 500th game to round out Matchweek 11. Still undefeated after 7 games, Arteta lead Arsenal to make it 8, grabbing 20 points from a possible 24 in that span.

Did Arsenal get lucky?

Yes but no. Although Foster put in a great performance in his milestone game, Arsenal got lucky. Despite Saka’s disallowed goal (a rule of which I’ve never heard of before), the Gunners were lucky. Smith-Rowe’s goal (3 in his last 3) could’ve easily been disallowed for a foul when Maitland-Niles floored Ismaila Sarr moments before the strike. Aubameyang’s choice to tap-in a shot which was destined for the back of the net from Odegaard in an offside position (as well as his saved penalty) had me wondering if we really deserved to walk away with a result after squandering so many chances.

Who takes the penalties?

In my opinion, it was always going to be Lacazette – you can’t argue with his spotless record of 8 from 8 in an Arsenal shirt. If Aubameyang is scoring, however, who can complain? See, that’s the thing. Having his shot saved against Villa (only to score the rebound) and having his penalty against Watford now saved as well, don’t be surprised to see his French counterpart stepping up to the spot the next time around.

Solid, solid, solid defence:

Apart from the miscue from Ramsdale deep into the second half, which somehow didn’t end in a goal, this Arsenal defence is something special. Ramsdale is in the form of his life. Gabriel and Ben White are like slingshots – whatever goes into the box gets hurled straight back out. Tomiyasu runs on petrol and shuts down the entire right side of the pitch. Nuno Tavares has proven that he can fill Kieran Tierney’s shoes in an instant. Gave up just one shot on target against Watford – another brilliant outing.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles:

To thing that just a couple of months ago he wanted out of the club is odd. Since then we have seen such a difference in attitude from him. 5 minutes, 45 minutes, 60 minutes – whatever you ask him to do, he’ll put in a shift. This game was his first full 90 of the season and he walked away as a MOTM. Well deserved.

Where to now?

The Gunners now sit in 5th place with 20 points: 3 points of 2nd. In saying that however, the next match (after the international break) is against Liverpool (4th place, 2 points above us) at Anfield. No easy task at all but you couldn’t ask for much better momentum heading into it.