Summary
Well, well, well, who saw this one coming? Some thought that Arsenal could come unstuck here if they fielded a weakened team, with attention firmly on their trip Barcelona at Camp Nou on Tuesday. Instead, Wenger fielded his strongest possible XI and still got beat. Their remarkable unbeaten run in the FA Cup, stretching back to February 2013, is over. Should they fail to overcome their 2-0 deficit in Barcelona, it is more than likely that they will finish the season with nothing.
Daniel Finucane is not a happy man: “Arsenal’s ‘attack’ has put in a masterclass in self-sabotage. The amount of blown chances has been staggering. The thing is, it has happened so often with this team. Much as people have started to doubt whether the Gunners’ injuries are merely bad luck, maybe their awful finishing also isn’t just a bad run.”
But today should be more about Watford. They rode their luck at times, but arguably earned that with effective team tactics and some fantastic individual performances (Cathcart, Nyom, Deeney, Ighalo). But I cannot praise Guedioura’s strike enough. Beautiful in it’s simplicity, Guedioura came onto the ball at pace, closed his eyes, thought of Algeria, and absolutely wellied it into the roof of the net. His first start for Watford since January, what a way to mark your return to the starting XI.
There are unconfirmed report that the speed was 86.4mph, which would place it sixth on the all-time list of fastest shots, according to this here list.
Join Rob Smyth now for more hot FA Cup action: Manchester United v West Ham. With Watford, Everton and Crystal Palace already in the semi-finals, the winner of this tie is arguably the favourite going into the last four.
See you next time, bye!
Full-time: Arsenal 1-2 Watford
Watford are through to the semi-final of the FA Cup! What a performance!
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90+4 min: Prödl and Mertesacker clash heads under a high ball as Arsenal resort to lumping the ball into the box. The Austrian comes off the worst and there is a break in play, but Prödl will have to go off. Dangerous for Watford, this!
90+2 min: Iwobi tries his luck again, but Watford’s numbers are too many,and his eventual shot goes wide. Some of the home crowd may have left at 0-2 down, but those remaining roar Arsenal forward again.
90+1 min: Four minutes added on here. What a Cup tie this has become.
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90 min: WHAT A MISS. This will go down as one of the misses of the season. This is Torres-at-Old Trafford-esque. It’s laughable. Iwobi takes aim from the edge of the box, the ball rattling off the bottom of the post and rebounding out. Gibbs is first to the rebound but with Pantilimon scrambling out to meet him, he unselfishly squares the ball to Welbeck. The net is empty but the England man can’t take it first time and somehow scuffs his shot on the turn from six yards out. Wow.
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GOAL! Arsenal 1-2 Watford (Welbeck 88)
Arsenal have hope! A lovely back-heel from Ozil takes out three Watford defenders, and Welbeck cooly slots the ball under the Pantilimon. What vision from the German to set that up. Eyes in the back of his head. Nervy final moments for Watford!
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87 min: Walcott gets in a good position inside the Watford area, but Cathcart is at is yet again, reading the play and coming across to snuff out the danger. The Northern Irishman has been everywhere today, definitely my man of the match.
85 min: The Watford fans are in full voice: “Wemmmbley, Wembley.”
“Cheer up Arsenal fans,” says Ruth Purdue, “it is not like you have to face Barc...Oh…”
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83 min: The already yellow-carded Pantilimon taking his time with a goal kick yet again. “Say Pantilimon recieved a 2nd yellow for time wasting: is it an indirect free kick or a drop ball? And where would the indirect free kick be taken from if, for instance, Pantilimon was behind the goal retrieving the ball? You are the ref, Michael, ” emails Jacob Kountz.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but if the ball is dead, he would be shown a second yellow, and Watford would continue to be allowed to have the goal kick. If he had the ball in his hands, it would be an indirect free kick from where the keeper was when the referee blew up.
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82 min: Amrabat replaces Ighalo in Watford’s third and final change. Another attacking substitution!
80 min: Arsenal need to score now if they are to have any hope and a golden chance presents itself to Gibbs, who has a free header from eight yards out, but it’s straight at Pantilimon!
79 min: Watford press forward yet again and win a corner, although Ben Watson cannot make the most of the loose ball, his shot closed down by Chambers.
“Ranieri is an obvious candidate, but Howe, Bilic and Flores are great stories too,” emails John Whelan. “Remember the turnover at Watford last summer? Incredible job really.”
Read this from Amy Lawrence. It’s excellent.
77 min: Yet another Watford change as they keep things fresh.
77: SUB: Guedioura replaced by Abdi. Great reception for the Algerian as he makes way. #watfordfc
— Watford FC (@WatfordFC) March 13, 2016
SNAPSHOT: Guedioura and his #watfordfc team-mates celebrates the Hornets' second goal! pic.twitter.com/KVouGaHGbo
— Watford FC (@WatfordFC) March 13, 2016
74 min: “Was that a Thunderbastard?” asks Duncan Smith? Nope, I’m afraid to say it was officially a Humdingertron.
71 min: Watford make their first change and it’s a strange one: Anya, an attacking wide player for Capoue, a defensive centre mid. Just goes to show how much Quique Sánchez Flores thinks his side can still hurt Arsenal on the counter-attack.
69 min: Not really fair, Valero is an excellent player, currently tearing it up for Fiorentina at the sharp end of Serie A.
@michaelbutler18 We (Arsenal) are looking a lot like Tony Mowbray's total football West Brom, and Özil is our Borja Valero.
— Suleiman (@namielus) March 13, 2016
67 min: Triple change for Arsenal. Elmeny, Campell and Giroud replaced by Welbeck, Iwobi & Walcott.
“Three substitutions but the only one we really need is Wenger replaced by a 21st century manger. Graham Fulcher in a very agitated west stand at the Emirates,” writes Graham Fulcher.
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66 min: Arsenal get to the byline once again, this time through Chambers, and he squares the ball to a completely unmarked Giroud … no, what a challenge from Cathcart. Giroud was just about to tap the ball home, and an outrageous recovering slide tackle got a slight nick on the ball and took the ball away from the Arsenal striker.
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65 min: Oh my, I haven’t seen a hit like that in a long time. WHAT A GOAL. Watford fully deserving of this lead. They have got their tactics spot on.
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GOAL! Arsenal 0-2 Watford (Guedioura 64)
This is one of the most outrageous goals you will see/read about all season. Deeney latches onto a long ball and holds the ball up magnificently, waiting for support. It duly arrives in the form of Guedioura, who neglects to take a touch from Deeney’s lay-off, and instead rockets a first-time shot into the roof of Ospina’s net from 20 yards out at about 4,926mph.
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62 min: Arsenal come roaring back, Campbell gets wide on the left and whips a near-post cross into the box. Giroud steals a march on Cathcart and prods an effort towards goal, but Pantilimon stands tall and somehow claws it out. The big Romanian didn’t know much about it, but that was an excellent save.
60 min: Another outstanding chance for Ighalo! Ohhhhh, it should be 2-0! Ake rampages down the left, looks as though he is closed down by Chambers and Campbell but tackles a cross towards the back post where Ighalo is waiting. The Nigerian is a little flat-footed and stretches to meet the ball but can only get the bottom of his studs on the ball and the ball squirms wide.
57 min: Watford’s game plan appears to be a simple, effective one. Get men behind the ball, punt the ball long, let Ighalo and Deeney run Mertesacker and co ragged. Not the first time that Arsenal have come undone this way.
55 min: Excellent defending by Nyom. He’s been up and down Watford’s right flank like a yoyo this second half, and he shows outstanding pace to get back to close Sanchez, who initially loses the ball and then fouls the Chilean.
“Sánchez is running about like a truck stuck in 2nd gear and revving at 7000 rpm. Admirable but ineffective and probably knackering,” notes Chales Antaki.
53 min: Elneny, buoyed by his two absolutely shocking misses in the first half, takes aim from 25 yards. His shot stings the palms of Pantilimon, but it’s comfortably gathered.
52 min: Watford nearly repeat the trick! A good deep cross from Nyom is aimed towards Deeney, who gets up above Gabriel at the far post. Ighalo latches onto the knock-down but Mertesacker just gets across to close down the Nigerian.
GOAL! Arsenal 0-1 Watford (Ighalo 50)
A goal out of nothing. Awful, awful defending from Arsenal, such a simple goal to concede. A long throw is flicked on by Deeney to Ighalo, who is allowed to quickly swivel just outside the six yard and poke his shot beyond Ospina. His first goal in eight games. Watford’s nearby 9,000 supporters go absolutely potty.
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3 - Arsenal haven’t lost three home games in a row in all competitions since November 2002. Wary.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 13, 2016
And they haven’t lost an FA Cup match since February 2013, when Blackburn Rovers came to town.
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47 min: Arsenal win an early corner, which is delivered near post to Giroud, and the Frenchman heads the ball onto the top of the net. Close. From the goal-kick, Pantilimon is taking his time, which is risky business considering he has already been given a yellow card for time wasting.
Peeeeep! We’re underway again. No changes from either side.
The players re-emerge from the tunnel to House of Pain’s Jump Around. Weird, the home faithful don’t seem to be listening.
PSG update: they are now 8-0 at 10-man Troyes, needing to win the game to secure their fourth straight Ligue 1 title. Ibra has got a hat-trick. Let’s hope they can hang on.
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In light of that Gabriel tackle, here’s a brick-by-brick account of Benjamin Massing’s effort on Caniggia in 1990, one of the five worst ever tackles according to the Observer in 2002.
And whilst you wait for the second half, why not have a read of this week’s Knowledge that answers the question: has a footballer been sent off for a nasty tackle on his brother?
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Half-time: Arsenal 0-0 Watford
Both teams have had chances, although Arsenal have had the better of it, but they should definitely have had Gabriel sent off for an terrible, reckless challenge on Deeney.
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45 min: Two additional minutes added on here.
4 - Four of the five times Arsenal have failed to have a first-half shot on target in 2015/16 have been in games at the Emirates. Quiet.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 13, 2016
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43 min: From the resulting goal kick, Pantilimon is given a yellow card for time-wasting. Yep, it is still the first half …
42 min: Ozil is at it again, threading a perfect pass through the eye of the needle/between Cathcart and Ake through to Campbell but the Costa Rican’s lob flies just over the bar. Can Watford hold out until half-time?
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40 min: I spoke too soon! Ozil springs to life, nutmegging Ake on the byline and he cuts the ball back to Campbell. Campbell shapes to shoot but instead squares the ball – a la Sheringham in 1996 – to Elneny, who blazes a sidefooted effort a good 10 yards over the bar from 15 yards out. His second awful miss.
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38 min: Watford have looked good here, defending deep and compact and have looked dangerous on the counter-attack with Ighalo.
35 min: Penalty shout for Arsenal. Ozil plays a neat one-two and breaks into the area, with Prödl coming in from the side to tackle the World Cup winner. Prödl takes none of the ball, and all of the man, but Marriner waves play on yet again. Another poor decision!
33 min: Another dangerous Watford breakaway, another shocking pass form Ighalo. Again Watford’s front two had outnumbered Arsenal at the back, but poor decision making let them down. Ighalo beats the ground in frustration, he’s livid!
31 min: Over a third of this match gone, and Pantilimon has yet to make a serious save. “If I were the Watford ‘keeper, there’s no way my retirement plan wouldn’t be to invent something that keeps underwear citrus fresh all day, and call it ‘Costel’s Panty Lemon’” suggests Mac Millings.
30 min: The ball pinballs around the Arsenal box before squirming through to Elneny. The Egyptian has time and space to take a touch and fire a shot at goal, but he completely miscues, and the ball flies high and wide into the stands from eight yards out. Golden chance.
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28 min: Oh my, that should be a definite red card for Gabriel! He goes in two-footed studs up, with both feet off the ground and careers into Deeney’s shins, but Andre Marriner, not five yards away waves play on. How is that not a red card? Gabriel got a tiny part of the ball, but that shouldn’t matter – it was a leg breaker. Dangerous play. Shocking decision.
In fairness to Andre Mariner, he was unsighted pic.twitter.com/12NkfcTjq3
— Daniel Harris (@DanielHarris) March 13, 2016
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25 min: Fantastic ball down the line releases Ighalo on the left, and suddenly the Nigerian and Deeney are two on two with Gabriel and Mertesacker. But oh no! A horrible pass from Ighalo allows Mertesacker to intercept and the chance is gone. Quique Sanchez Flores has his head in his hands. He knows what good a chance that was.
23 min: Deeney is playing on the left side of an attacking midfield three but Watford captain is simply not doing his defensive job, and Chambers has a free run down the right, latching onto a clever reverse pass from Campbell. One touch, another low cross across the six-yard box but Pantilimon dives in bravely to nick the ball off Giroud’s toes.
21 min: Mertesacker returns the favour, sliding in on Watson, winning the ball and leaving the 2013 FA Cup final winner in a crumpled heap. It’s getting feisty out there.
20 min: Sanchez bamboozles Nyom on the left, slides a ball into Giroud on the byline, who cuts the ball back towards Campbell, but Ake reads the pass superbly and slides in to clear. Excellent defending.
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18 min: Watford have had a couple of free-kicks deep in their own half, but have launched the ball into Arsenal’s area, forcing the home team to defend the high ball. So far, Arsenal have stood up to this aerial bombardment, Gabriel winning his tussle with Ighalo.
16 min: I’ve been so impressed with Campbell this season. Injuries allowed him to force his way into the Arsenal team earlier this season, but a string of assists and a few goals mean he is one of the most creative now in the team. That pass to help set up Giroud’s disallowed goal earlier was the latest display of his vision, cutting in off that right flank with that sweet left foot.
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14 min: Ighalo is full of running and perhaps fancies himself against Mertesacker today, but the big German sticks out one of those big legs and makes an inch-perfect slide tackle on the edge of Arsenal’s box. That was hugely important, with Deeney lurking unmarked just to the right of his striker partner. Mertesacker has started the game well, he looks fully recovered from that blow to the head at Hull.
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12 min: It seems the reason for the late change just before kick-off of Pantilimon for Gomes in Watford’s goal, was due to “an administrative error.” The FA were apparently happy to allow the change late doors.
10 min: Watson loses the ball to Ozil and suddenly Arsenal spring forward on the counter-attack. A quite sumptuous first-time ball from Campbell releases Sanchez down the centre, who skips round a challenge, feeds Giroud and the Frenchman sweeps a cool finish beneath Pantilimon into the net for a 1-0 lea … no it’s been ruled out for offside! Replays show that Giroud was just about level. It was extremely tight, but Watford can count themselves lucky. 0-0.
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8 min: It’s an odd atmosphere at the Emirates. Just shy of 9,000 Watford fans are making themselves heard in the away end. “Everywhere we goooooo...”
6 min: “Dress yourself up for the second half and we’ll all judge at the end,” suggests Colum Farrelly. I’m not really one for selfies, but I’ll see if the Guardian sport office has any fancy-dress gems lying around at half-time.
4 min: After being sent off against Tottenham last week, and serving his one-match suspension against Hull on Tuesday, Coquelin is back in Arsenal’s starting XI, snapping at the heels of Deeney and Ighalo just in front of the Gunners’ defence. With Elneny in there as well, central midfield is very congested at present.
2 min: Watford start the match with nine men behind the ball – only Ighalo beyond it – but one switch of play from Sanchez and the visitors are undone: Chambers overlaps Campbell and fires a low centre across the box, but Cathcart just gets a toe on it in front of Giroud and hacks clear. A nervy start for Watford.
Peeeeeeeep! And we’re off!
Late change to the #watfordfc starting line-up here at the Emirates Stadium. Pantilimon starts in goal, not Gomes.
— Watford FC (@WatfordFC) March 13, 2016
The teams are out! Arsenal in their red and white, Watford are in their changed away kit, a dark grey number. It’s glorious sunshine in north London. Let’s do this! It’s time for football!
(s/o James Crane)
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Meanwhile, in France...
PSG are 3-0 up at Troyes inside 19 minutes, thanks to goals from Edinson Cavani, Javier Pastore and Adrien Rabiot. Provided they can hold onto that winning advantage, they will be crowned Ligue 1 champions, their fourth championship on the trot, becoming the earliest side to ever be crowned domestic champions in one of Europe’s top five leagues.
Wenger has been speaking to the cameras:
“Watford are very strong physically, they close down very quickly up front with Iheanacho … Ighalo.”
Bit of a mishap from the Arsenal manager there. But he got there in the end. In contrast, Wenger was in top form when he spoke to the media earlier this weekend:
Even in paradise, Adam was not happy. We are on earth here so I can understand that people are very demanding.I have not created human beings. That is God, if he exists. He didn’t make us perfect, so we have to live with that. We have to live with exaggerations and I can do that. I honestly never believed that I was God and I’m absolutely completely conscious of that. But what can I do? It is a perception of other people. It is judgment. Is it right or wrong? I don’t know. But I know I can only make sure of one thing – I am completely committed to perform and I do my best to make sure this club does well.
The last time Arsenal hosted Watford in the FA Cup was back in 1987, which was also a quarter-final. They lost 3-1, thanks to goals from Luther Blissett and John Barnes. Graham Taylor got the better of George Graham that day but his side would lose to Tottenham 4-1 in the semi-finals at Villa Park.
“Why do BT Sport dress all their pundits like landed gentry?” emails Christopher Kuschel. “Ian Wright looks like he’s just got back from the hunt.”
I can confirm Mr Wright is wearing a tweet waistcoat, matching flat-cap, those specs, and a loud blue pinstripe suit. I’m wearing a hoodie, which I have just spilt a bit of yogurt on.
.@IanWright0 backs Wenger's decision to field a strong XI despite @FCBarcelona on Wednesday. #EmiratesFACup https://t.co/rmGOmOLG8M
— BT Sport Football (@btsportfootball) March 13, 2016
Any more thoughts on footballer/punditry dress? Or indeed on today’s game? Email me at michael.butler@theguardian.com or tweet @michaelbutler18.
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A few things to unpack from those teams:
This is, perhaps their full-backs aside, arguably the strongest possible Arsenal team available to Wenger. Some will argue that Welbeck could start ahead of Giroud, or Iwobi ahead of Campbell, but after both Giroud and Campbell performed well against Hull on Tuesday, it is no surprise to see them in the starting XI. 6ft6in 21-year-old Matt Macey is again on the bench for the Gunners, as he was against Tottenham and Hull, and he would make his debut should he be required today.
For Watford, despite the fact that Costel Pantilimon has been between the sticks for Watford for most of their FA Cup run, he is replaced by the club’s No1, Heurelho Gomes. Feel familiar Costel? Adlene Guedioura, who last started a match in January and who seems to be exclusively used in the FA Cup this year, starts in front of Nordin Amrabat, who has impressed me hugely since his move from Málaga (but hasn’t scored). Nathan Ake moves to left back after his stint at centre-back last week, making way for the returning Craig Cathcart.
Today’s teams
Arsenal 4-2-3-1: Ospina; Chambers, Mertesacker, Gabriel, Gibbs; Coquelin, Elneny; Campbell, Özil, Sánchez; Giroud
Subs: Macey, Bellerín, Monreal, Flamini, Iwobi, Walcott, Welbeck
Watford 4-2-3-1: Gomes; Nyom, Prödl, Cathcart, Ake; Watson, Behrami; Capoue, Deeney, Guedioura; Ighalo
Subs: Pantilimon, Anya, Suarez, Abdi, Jurado, Amrabat, Oulare.
Referee: Andre Marriner
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Preamble
There are a lot of questions hanging over this game …
• With the small matter of a trip to provincial Catalan side Barcelona on Tuesday, will Arsène Wenger play a full-strength side?
• Against a Watford side that has conceded just five goals in their last nine appearances, who in an Arsenal shirt is going to do what only Riyad Mahrez managed last week against Quique Sánchez Flores’ side, score?
• Will Troy Deeney’s Arsenal-supporting son, Myles, celebrate if the Gunners win?
• Has Alexis Sánchez had enough sleep?
• Will Watford be as tactically naive as they were when they hosted Arsenal in the league earlier this season after they were arguably the better side for much of the game but shipped three goals 12 minutes?
• Have Gabriel and Per Mertesacker fully recovered after coming off against Hull on Tuesday in Arsenal’s fifth-round win at Hull?
• Should you spending your Sunday a little more wholesomely than cramped over a screen reading this MBM because you don’t have a BT Sport subscription?
• Can somebody please remind Odion Ighalo where he left his shooting boots?
• Will Arsenal take another step towards their third successive FA Cup or will they suffer their first defeat in the competitions since February 2013?
• Will anybody get sunburnt, as this writer did yesterday (yep it’s still March), at the Emirates?
All will be revealed.
Kick-off: 1.30pm GMT.
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