Arsenal refuse to give up title dream after revenge victory over Watford

Saturday, 2nd April 2016

ARSENE Wenger vowed Arsenal will “fight to the end” in their pursuit of the premier league after a 4-0 thrashing over tired Watford stoked the dying embers of their title challenge.

Still stinging after last month’s shock FA Cup quarter-final defeat at the hands of the hornets that sent the holders tumbling out of the competition, Arsenal were out for revenge.

The vital victory closed the gap on league leaders Leicester to eight points and left Arsene Wenger insisting his third-placed team should not be written off in this, their last remaining hope of silverware. 

“We want to focus on the way we play and keep the quality very high. Then we’ll see where we are. We will fight until the end to have a chance. The only way we can achieve that is by playing games with our team quality, he said, adding: “In the FA Cup defeat we had the same domination but we couldn’t score. That makes a big difference.”

The manager’s relief was shared by fans in the Emirates stadium which erupted when Alexis Sanchez broke his goal drought to grab an early opener. His header from Alex Iwobi’s cross was blocked by Heurelho Gomes but but he hit home off the rebound.

The Chilean striker was back to his best, terrorizing Watford’s defence and creating one chance after another. He linked seamlessly with attacking midfielder Iwobi, the academy starlet whose emergence has offered a glimmer of hope in a fading campaign.

Iwobi’s goal was vintage Arsenal as Francis Coquelin hit an excellent pass through to Sanchez who cut back for the young Nigerian international to finish off.

Praising his mobility and fearlessness after the game, Wenger said: “Every year we bring players out and not many clubs can say that. I’m happy Alex is one of them. He arrived here at the age of seven or eight. He’s completely integrated in the way we want to play football.”

Mohamed Elneny also won praise for his work-rate and solid midfield partnership with Coquelin.

Watford were a shadow of the sparky side that had so frustrated Arsenal just weeks before and apart from forcing a good save from Arsenal keeper David Ospina, striker Troy Deeney hardly got a sniff of the ball. 

By the time the excellent Hector Bellerin scored a deflected goal off Ben Watson, Arsenal oozed confidence and toyed cruelly with the opposition’s defence as fans rewarded each pass with appreciative “olés”.

It was all too much for Watford’s Allan Nyom who became so resentful of Mesut Ozil’s sauntering stepovers, back-heels and drag-backs that he clattered him, sending him flying. 

The German international remained undaunted, later executing a defence-splitting pass to substitute Theo Walcott whose tap-in topped off the afternoon’s entertainment and sealed the win, leaving away fans to console themselves with choruses of ‘we’re going to Wembley’. 

But while revenge was sweet it did nothing to dispel the nagging thought that if only Arsenal had been able to rouse themselves to play like this a bit more often the title would be within closer grasp.

When asked by reporters whether Arsenal had failed to capitalize on a season so wide-open it was surely ripe for the picking, Wenger said: “The title is never there for the taking, you have to work for it. Everybody works for it and you have to respect the teams who have more points than you, and who have not played in as many competitions.”

ARSENAL: Ospina, Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Elneny, Sanchez (Campbell 78), Ozil, Iwobi (Walcott 73), Wellbeck (Giroud 68)
Subs not used: Cech, Gibbs, Mertesacker, Chambers

 

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