Alex Iwobi impresses to leave Aaron Ramsey the odd man out for Arsenal

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James Benge29 September 2018

Arsenal left it late to secure a fifth Premier League win in a row as Alexandre Lacazette and Mesut Ozil earned them a hard fought 2-0 win over Watford at the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners had been pushed hard by Watford throughout a first half when Lacazette had been their most consistent threat, chipping wide when one-on-one with Ben Foster and being denied a penalty after he stayed on his feet when he had been challenged by Christian Kabasele.

Petr Cech was withdrawn before half-time with a hamstring injury and his replacement Bernd Leno kept Arsenal in the game, saving superbly from Troy Deeney at close range.

Arsenal still had to ride a wave of Watford pressure before the final 10 minutes, when Lacazette turned in Iwobi’s fine cross at the near post before the pair then combined to tee up Ozil moments later.

James Benge assesses the key talking points from the Emirates...

Ramsey the odd one out in Arsenal’s front four

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After a performance like today’s it is perhaps easier to see why Arsenal performed such a remarkable volte-face on their decision to hand Aaron Ramsey a new contract, with the Welsh midfielder now set to leave the club in January or the summer. Simply put it seems nigh-on impossible to find a spot for him in Unai Emery’s side without damaging the performances of those around him.

Emery’s front four clicked for two minutes against Everton on Sunday and that was enough - here there was no flash of inspiration from Ramsey, Ozil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Lacazette, just a lot of extremely talented players getting in each others’ ways.

With Ozil and Aubameyang stationed wide what little width Arsenal had came from the full-backs, opening gaps for Watford to counter. Meanwhile Ramsey was offering next to nothing in the centre, completing only two more passes in an extra 18 minutes than Petr Cech had managed. It was no surprise he was hauled off for Alex Iwobi just after the hour.

Ramsey’s demeanour said it all, if he had been hoping to prove Emery and Arsenal were wrong to dispense with him he had merely enhanced their case.

Iwobi poised to take Ramsey’s place

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If Emery does opt to bench Ramsey he has the perfect replacement waiting in the wings. Back in Arsene Wenger’s final hours Alex Iwobi looked destined to be the latest promising youngster to stall after a bright start, and the Hale End product had lost the support of a crowd who always give one of their own the benefit of the doubt.

A few months under Emery and Iwobi is back to his best, reminiscent of the player who was man of the match when Chelsea were thrashed here in 2016.

Both Wenger and Laurent Koscielny have both demanded more direct contribution on the scoresheet from Iwobi, who got an assist here, but that misses how important he is in knitting attacks together.

Even in the travails of last season the only Arsenal players with a higher xGBuildup per 90 minutes - a statistic that measures the total expected goals of every possession a player is involved in other than ones that end in a shot or key pass - were Ozil and Granit Xhaka, indicating that Iwobi played a crucial role in the Gunners’ build-up play.

Leno rises to the occasion

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Frustrating as it is for any manager to lose a goalkeeper to injury, the withdrawal of Petr Cech just before the interval with what appeared to be a hamstring injury offering an intriguing experiment for Unai Emery. How would the veteran Cech and Bernd Leno fare against the same opposition?

A side as powerful as Watford are ideally suited to testing goalkeepers, raining down crosses towards Troy Deeney and Andre Gray. Cech struggled early on, spilling the first delivery that came his way. Not for the first time in recent years the goalkeeper was saved embarrassment for a foul that might generously be termed non-existent.

It was not the only occasion where Cech, fresh from his best performance in an Arsenal shirt against Everton, struggled with the high ball before he tweaked a hamstring performing a goal kick.

Leno proved he was up to the challenge, meeting Watford’s crosses with powerful punches that put greater distance between the ball and Arsenal’s goal. A superb low save from Deeney’s close range flick suggested doubts over his shot-stopping ability may have been exaggerated.

With Cech possibly facing several weeks on the sidelines now is the time for Leno to make the first-choice role his own. He started very well indeed.

Xhaka overpowered in midfield battle

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This was one of those games from Granit Xhaka. The ones where a caution seems to loom over every tackle, where his passing radar is eschew, where mistakes are all too prevalent.

His performance was typified on the hour, where a bouncing ball in the box was met by Xhaka’s clearing boot only to fly straight up in the air, causing panic in the Arsenal rearguard and causing Leno to miss a clearing punch.

Whilst Lucas Torreira seemed to relish his battle with Abdoulaye Doucoure and Etienne Capoue, this match brought the worst out of Xhaka, who became steadily more shaky as the contest wore on. Considering his key role is to bring composure to central areas, that is a worrying reality.

Watford proving they can last the course

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If seventh place is the grandest dream most of the Premier League can imagine, then it at least looks like it might come true for Javi Gracia’s side. After pushing Manchester United close and giving Tottenham a bloody nose, they proved yet again that there is no team in the top flight they can’t trouble.

Their physicality has to be seen to be believed. Will Hughes might look like a diminutive playmaker in this side but at 6ft 1in he towered over many of his Arsenal opponents. There is more to this Watford side than power though, with Roberto Pereyra a mischievous presence on the left who nearly scored a brilliant goal on 70 minutes.

This is hardly the first season Watford have started in fine form and it would be unwise to assume they will not just grind to a halt again after they hit 40 points. That would be a shame. They have so much to offer this league.

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