Paul Doyle's match report
And Wenger’s reaction to the penalty decision …
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Full time: Watford 2-1 Arsenal
Watford are fourth in the Premier League after beating Arsenal at home for the first time since 1987. The introduction of Troy Deeney changed the match, though Arsenal will be royally hacked off at the dodgy penalty that allowed Watford to equalise. Thanks for your company, goodnight!
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90+3 min The Watford staff and substitutes went absolutely mad when that goal went in. They might be the biggest celebrations on this ground since Troy Deeney’s epic goal against Leicester in 2013.
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Watford have won it! Holebas choked a long-range shot that was deflected into the six-yard box. Deeney’s flick forced a brilliant save from Cech and then Capoue’s was blocked by Mertesacker, possibly with his arm. No matter because the ball rebounded perfectly for Cleverley to sweep it over the diving Cech and into the roof of the net.
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GOAL! Watford 2-1 Arsenal (Cleverley 90+2)
Oh my goodness!
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90+1 min There will be four minutes of added time. Deeney’s low drive is blocked by Mertesacker. Arsenal are hanging on for a point in a match they dominated.
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90 min “England v Romania was Euro 2000 not 98,” says Tekin Sahan. “Get your fucking facts straight.”
Oh yeah. My bad.
89 min Monreal sprays an outstanding long pass to Bellerin, whose cross is headed behind for a corner. Xhaka’s inswinger is headed clear to Monreal, who smacks one into orbit from long distance.
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87 min Carrillo, in a surprising amount of space on the edge of the area, gets the ball out of his feet smacks a wild drive over the bar. Watford have really dominated since the equaliser.
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85 min Arsenal make their last change, with Rob Holding replacing Laurent Koscielny. Jack Wilshere was going to come on until they realised Koscielny was injured.
83 min Capoue hits the post! Deeney played an inviting pass back to him and he sidefooted a first-time shot from 20 yards that took a double deflection, wrongfooted Cech and hit the far post.
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81 min Deeney has made an impact since coming on, harassing the Arsenal defenders constantly and scoring the equaliser. He’s such a likeable player.
80 min Watford make their last substitution, with Pereyra replaced by Etienne Capoue.
77 min At the moment Watford look the team most likely to score a winner. Mind you, so did England against Romania in 1998.
75 min Richarlison rattles a shot into the side netting at the near post from a tightish angle. Cech had it covered.
74 min That was Watford’s first shot on target. Arsenal have good reason to feel aggrieved.
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GOAL! Watford 1-1 Arsenal (Deeney 72 pen)
A good penalty from Deeney, who sends Cech the wrong way to bring Watford level.
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I don’t think that should have been a penalty. It was no different to the Welbeck/Holebas incident at the other end. Richarlison ran at Bellerin on the left side of the box, and when the two bumped shoulders Richarlison went flying. That looked like a dive.
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PENALTY TO WATFORD!
Richarlison goes over after a challenge from Bellerin, and Watford have a controversial penalty.
70 min A superb break from Arsenal. Kolasinac plays it down the line to Iwobi, who charges infield and plays an angled pass to put Ozil clear on goal. He looked offside, wasn’t flagged, and hit a low shot that was well saved down to his left by Gomes. He should have scored.
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70 min “Into how many Premier League first teams would Mertesacker and Giroud make their way, I wonder?” wonders Bill Hargreaves.
Giroud is an interesting case, because specialist subs are so underappreciated. He’s one of the best in the world.
68 min Olivier Giroud replaces Alexandre Lacazette for Arsenal.
64 min Kabasele is booked for something or other.
63 min That’s a fine save from Gomes. Ozil teased a gentle through pass for Iwobi, who zipped infield from the left and shaped an Henry-ish curler towards the far corner. Gomes plunged to his left to tip it round the post.
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62 min A double change for Watford; Troy Deeney and Andre Carrillo replace Andre Gray and Adrian Mariappa, which means a switch to a back four.
60 min Holebas’s deep cross is is palmed behind for a corner by Cech. Before the corner can be taken, the luckless Danny Welbeck limps off to be replaced by Mesut Ozil.
58 min Welbeck goes over in the area after a challenge from Holebas. It was shoulder to shoulder and Neil Swarbrick waved play on.
57 min Arsenal look in control at the back, despite a marginally improved performance from Watford. There are opportunities for Arsenal on the counter-attack as well, though their final pass has been poor.
52 min That’s a bit better from Richarlison. He runs at Bellerin on the left, uses the overlapping Holebas by not using him and then curls a shot a few yards wide of the far post.
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51 min Watford break four on four, only for Richarlison to blunder straight into Monreal’s tackle. Ach!
50 min After a numbingly tedious start to the second half, Arsenal win a corner on the left.
46 min Peep peep!
Half-time reading
Half time: Watford 0-1 Arsenal
Peep peep! Arsenal lead through Per Mertesacker in a slightly subdued match. See you in 10 minutes for more subdued entertainment!
44 min Another long-range strike from Xhaka is comfortably held by Gomes. Xhaka has had a fine half.
43 min Two chances in a minute for Arsenal. Xhaka’s crisp long-range strike is palmed away by the diving Gomes, and then Bellerin screws a left-footed shot wide from 12 yards. Bellerin’s was an excellent chance.
40 min That’s Arsenal’s first away goal in the Premier League this season, and a nice way for Mertesacker to mark his first league appearance for 18 months.
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GOAL! Watford 0-1 Arsenal (Mertesacker 39)
Tiki-taka my foot. Arsenal take the lead with a delightfully old-fashioned goal. Xhaka curls a fine corner onto the six-yard line, where Mertesacker gets away from Cleverley to thump a header into the net. Gomes had no chance.
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38 min Cleverley’s flat cross is headed wide from 15 yards by Richarlison. Cech watched it go past the post at about 2mph.
34 min Lovely play from Lacazette, who dinks the ball over the sliding Mariappa to make some space in the inside-left channel. Then he scoops the ball over three defenders towards Iwobi, who is about to volley at goal from close range when Holebas appears on his blind side to clear.
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31 min Lacazette plays a one-two with Iwobi and finds Welbeck in the area. He tries to wriggle away from Mariappa, who stands tall and nicks the ball off him.
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29 min At the other end, Elneny swishes an excellent long-range shot just over the bar. I don’t think Gomes would have got to it had it been on target.
28 min Richarlison gallops 40 yards down the left and then into the area, beating Koscielny for speed. Bellerin does very well to cover and clear the danger.
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28 min Please may I retract the entry after 4 minutes.
27 min Iwobi plays a through pass towards Bellerin, and Gomes comes 30 yards from goal to clear.
26 min “Oh, Rob,” says Mac Millings. “Wouldn’t you know it. More than 20 years after I left my hometown for good, Watford McDonald’s finally corrects the disgraceful lack of service that drove me away in the first place. If I discover there is now adequate parking space at the Harlequin Centre, I’ll be on the next flight back.”
24 min Femenia’s bouncing cross from the right just evades the stretching Richarlison at the near post. Koscielny did well to ensure Richarlison couldn’t get a clear run at the ball.
21 min This is Watford’s best spell of the game. Pereyra turns Monreal superbly and then makes a mess of a simple pass to Gray.
19 min Holebas slaps a pass down the left to Doucoure, who rumbles past Bellerin and smashes the ball towards the six-yard line. Pereyra has a reaction time of 0.0000a seconds and can only head the ball further across goal.
14 min At the other end, Richarlison beats Bellerin easily on the left of the box and drives a low cross that is crucially intercepted by Mertesacker.
13 min Arsenal are missing a lot of players but they look sharp and confident in possession. Xhaka flips an insouciant pass over the top of the defence for Kolasinac, whose cushioned volley across goal is just behind Welbeck at the near post.
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11 min Richarlison is back on the field and almost sneaks behind Koscielny to meet Gray’s flick. Koscielny was alert and played the ball back to Cech.
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9 min Richarlison’s problem is actually with his wrist, which is being strapped. Iwobi accidentally trapped Richarlison’s wrist against the ground as he tried to wriggle away from him.
8 min Arsenal are having more of the ball, as you’d expect. Richarlison is down, though I think he’s just winded.
4 min It’s been a busy start from both sides. I know this phrase invites Dame Fortune to do her worst, but I’ll be really surprised if this ends 0-0.
2 min Watford have matched up Arsenal’s 3-4-2-1 formation. A few years ago the back three was an antiquated formation; now it’s the height of fashion. It’s almost as if everything’s cyclical and everyone’s winging it!
1 min Peep peep! Watford get the match going. They are in yellow; Arsenal are wearing their jaunty blue away strip.
The players are in the tunnel. It’s a brisk evening in Hertfordshire. Let’s football!
A shameless plug for my new podcast
What the world needs now is not, in fact, love, sweet love but a podcast about 80s and 90s football. It’s called Nessun Dorma, and the first episode is mainly about Italia 90: Gazza, Roger Milla, Benjamin Massing and, of course, Jack Charlton threatening to chin Frank Rijkaard.
There’s also a tribute to Peter Beardsley, a lament for the long-range header and respect for the superstar who used to go to McDonald’s every day before training for his breakfast. You can listen to it on the website or iTunes/Apple Podcasts.
Some match reports from the earlier games
Team news
Watford (3-4-2-1) Gomes; Mariappa, Kabasele, Britos; Fermenia, Cleverley, Doucoure, Holebas; Pereyra, Richarlison; Gray.
Substitutes: Karnezis, Janmaat, Wague, Capoue, Watson, Deeney, Carrillo.
Arsenal (3-4-2-1) Cech; Koscielny, Mertesacker, Monreal; Bellerin, Elneny, Xhaka, Kolasinac; Iwobi, Welbeck; Lacazette.
Substitutes: Ospina, Holding, Ozil, Coquelin, Wilshere, Giroud, Walcott.
Referee Neil Swarbrick.
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Preamble
Hello. It’s a great time to live in Watford, and not only because McDonald’s have just rolled out a home-delivery service for those who live within 1.5 miles of either of the two participating locations at Watford High Street and Watford Parade. It’s an exciting time to be a Watford fan too, with Marco Silva building what might become the best Watford team since the days of Graham Taylor. They have had a fine start to the season, with three good wins away from home, and today they are seeking a) their first home victory under Silva and b) their first big scalp under Silva.
A win would take Watford into the top four. It’s been 30 years since they last beat Arsenal at home. The away fans didn’t take that too well, and are unlikely to be particularly sanguine if they lose today. They have had a good run since being embarrassed at Anfield but are already nine points behind this ridiculous Manchester City side. If they have realistic ambitions of winning the title, victory is a must. Anything less than the best is a felony.
Kick off is at 5.30pm.
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