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Arsenal and Watford engaged in an entertaining 2-2 draw at Vicarage Road in the Premier League on Sunday.
The hosts started the better of the two sides but went behind in the 21st minute when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang turned sharply to fire past Ben Foster.
A few minutes later, the Gabonese double the Gunners’ advantage as they capped off a dominant first half display with a two-goal cushion. However, Arsenal fell off the peak spectacularly in the second period as Watford began turning the screw.
The Hornets launched several waves of attacks and were rewarded eight minutes after the restart when Sokratis’ calamitous error allowed Tom Cleverley to reduce the deficit.
And, nine minutes from time, the home side restored parity after Roberto Pereyra was bundled over in the box by David Luiz. The former stepped and confidently slotted his spot-kick to Bernd Leno’s right.
Though the Gunners were in complete control of the opening 45 minutes, a draw seemed a fair reflection of the game at the end, considering the battering the visitors received at the Hornets’ hands in the second half.
Here is a look at three players who were poor for Arsenal and two footballers who left Vicarage Road with their heads held up high.
#5 Matteo Guendouzi – Poor
The Frenchman put in a splendid performance against Tottenham in the North London Derby and subsequently, earned his first national call-up. However, he turned in an uninspiring display at Watford after the international break.
While Matteo Guendouzi wasn’t directly guilty of any errors, he failed to establish control in the middle third, especially in the second period. On a few occasions, he seemed a touch slow in his decision-making and that allowed the Watford players to get the ball off him.
Additionally, his touches went slightly awry at times, meaning that the Arsenal defence was put under constant strife. Moreover, his inability to help out Ainsley Maitland-Niles contributed to Gerard Deulofeu enjoying a field day on the left flank.
The Frenchman also needlessly got involved in a scuffle just before half-time and in the process, picked up a silly booking.
Through the course of the past couple of seasons, Guendouzi’s attribute of pinging the ball forward as quickly as possible and picking out the right pass has been raved about.
Unfortunately, on Sunday though, those qualities failed to come to the fore as the Frenchman endured a disappointing afternoon at Vicarage Road.
#4 Dani Ceballos – Impressive
Ever since his loan move from Real Madrid in the summer, Dani Ceballos has been taken to kindly, by the Arsenal faithful.
Blessed with an ability to wriggle past players with ease, his confidence and conviction on the ball has been refreshing to witness. Consequently, he has added another dimension to Arsenal’s midfield. And, against Watford, he strengthened an already burgeoning reputation.
On countless occasions, the Spaniard popped up in tight areas and demanded the ball. Despite receiving passes on the half-turn, he managed to waltz past his man, courtesy a combination of exceptional first touches and awareness of the space around him.
Most impressively though, he was willing to roll up his sleeves and put in the hard yards defensively, an aspect that has endeared him to Gooners even more.
The Spaniard’s endeavour paid off in the 21st minute when he dutifully tracked down Will Hughes, before eventually pinching the ball off him near the centre circle. The above enabled Sead Kolasinac to march forward and set up Aubameyang for the opening goal of the game.
Through the course of the season, Ceballos has been brilliant for Arsenal, with the only anomaly coming against Liverpool at Anfield.
Thus, despite the term being in its embryonic stage, the midfielder looks one of the most vital cogs in the Gunners’ wheel.
And, probably, Unai Emery, Raul Sanllehi & Co. should start tying up a deal to bring the Spaniard on board on a permanent basis.
#3 Sokratis – Poor
In the 2018 off-season, Sokratis was acquired by Arsenal as they hoped to fix a leaky defence. Though the Greek international has provided a defensive upgrade, he probably hasn’t beefed up the rear-guard as much as expected. On Sunday, he contrived to pull out one of his worst defensive mistakes in an Arsenal jersey.
With the Gunners well placed in the game, Sokratis inexplicably tried to pass the ball into the channel between the forwards, who were closing him down. Unsurprisingly, his attempted venture was thwarted by Deulofeu, whose outstretched right boot squared the ball to Cleverley.
The Englishman made no mistake and smashed the ball past a hapless Leno.
Thereafter, the Greek looked wobbly and got caught in a couple of sticky situations. Though Luiz bailed him out on a few occasions, Sokratis certainly needed to add a bit more steel to a defensive line often accused of lacking fibre.
However, more importantly, the defender’s lack of accomplished ball playing ability might not hold the Gunners in good stead, moving forward.
Emery is a firm believer of playing out from the back. But, rather alarmingly, Arsenal have conceded quite a few goals through that avenue.
If the manager is unwilling to tweak things a shade, maybe the personnel might face the axe and that could be potentially problematic for Sokratis.
#2 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – Impressive
In the 2018-19 season, Aubameyang produced sensational numbers as the Gabonese shared the Golden Boot with Mohammed Salah and Sadio Mane. Thus, several Gooners hoped for the striker to continue his scintillating form and luckily for them, his rich scoring run hasn’t waned.
Over the past ten games for Arsenal, the forward has notched up 12 goals, meaning that he has averaged more than a goal a game during the said period.
On Sunday, the Gabonese was thrust into the centre forward position, courtesy the injury to Alexandre Lacazette and the former thrived.
He made numerous runs into the channels to drag the central defenders out of position and was alert defensively too. However, akin to many a time previously, the distinguishing facet of his game-play was the end product he conjured.
The first goal was created through a sheer moment of genius as Aubameyang received a pacey pass from Kolasinac on the right edge of the penalty area. The striker controlled the ball with a sublime first touch before beating Foster via a fantastic snap shot, to the keeper’s near post.
Nine minutes later, he showcased his predatory instincts as he out-paced Craig Dawson near the top of the eighteen-yard box, thereby getting ahead of the defender as Maitland-Niles cut the ball back from the right wing.
A few days ago, Arsenal were dealt a major blow when Lacazette was ruled out for a considerable amount of time.
Yet, with Aubameyang in their ranks, the Gunners shouldn’t really be worrying about their goal-scoring threat. And, while the North London outfit have a fair few ailments plaguing them currently, the offensive third and the Gabonese certainly isn’t one of those.
#1 Ainsley Maitland-Niles – Poor
The Englishman has been thrown into the deep end since Hector Bellerin suffered a long-term knee injury against Chelsea last season. Subsequently, Maitland-Niles has enjoyed a prolonged run of games and for a major chunk of that stint, he has been pretty good for the Gunners.
However, Sunday wasn’t one of those days as the full-back turned in an abject display.
The Englishman started the game visibly slower than his teammates and looked lethargic until he presented himself on the right flank to cut the ball back for Aubameyang to score.
Unfortunately, though, that was the only bit of encouraging play he partook in.
Apart from the assist, the full-back was led a merry dance on the left wing by Deulofeu. The Spaniard got the better of him on a plethora of occasions and that ultimately prompted Emery to bring on Lucas Torreira, in order to protect Maitland-Niles from the winger.
Additionally, the full-back played himself into numerous dangerous situations by opting for questionable passes, despite simpler avenues being available.
At 22 years of age, Maitland-Niles still has plenty of time to mature and develop into a consistent, top-notch defender.
Yet, one just reckons, that he might not look back too fondly at Sunday’s visit to Vicarage Road, years down the line.
