The Chile forward tumbled to the ground in the area after being challenged by Nordin Amrabat, giving Santi Cazorla the opportunity to slot a penalty kick down the middle to put Arsenal ahead in the 9th minute.
Advertisement
A clinical first half from the Gunners saw the visitors claim a 3-0 lead and a debut goal from Roberto Pereyra was only a consolation for Watford.
This, then, was just the performance and outcome required heading into the worldwide break.
“If you project a bit for a longer future, we have players close to 30, close to 20 and at the mid-range of 24, 25 we did not have many and it is important”. We could have scored in the second half and they were 3-0 down.
“We tried already in December previous year (to sign him for the January window)”.
Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez, bottom left, scores his side’s second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Watford and Arsenal at Vicarage Road, Watford, England, on Saturday, August 27, 2016. “Unfortunately they managed to score a goal and the game then became more lively”.
With just one point from their opening two matches, Wenger and his side arrived at Vicarage Road under pressure with flawless starts from both Manchester clubs and Chelsea having left them already playing catch-up.
Despite Arsenal’s dominance, they nearly gifted Watford an equaliser moments later when Laurent Koscielny’s attempted interception saw him turn Amrabat’s cross towards his own goal, forcing Petr Cech into a smart stop.
He added: “I did it because we lost three midfielders. We have no plans for anyone else now”.
– The Hornets have now used 21 different players in the Premier League this season, with 17 different nationalities represented.
“You work every day to be ready for weekend and midweek games and all the games that come”.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger: “We had a good cushion at half-time”. There is no hiding from that. We have just to focus on the performances and try to improve. “Pereyra, (Daryl) Janmaat, (Younes) Kaboul and (Isaac) Success all came in and did very well”.
Like Cech, Watford captain Troy Deeney knows it is early days and believes there is more to come from a side still developing under Mazzarri.
“We must be more clinical”, Klopp said.
Juergen Klopp was left frustrated at Tottenham as Liverpool failed to kill the game despite their first-half dominance.
Wenger has lined up deals for the pair as he seeks to bolster his squad after a quiet transfer window and the Gunners boss is confident both players will arrive at the Emirates Stadium before Wednesday’s deadline.
“Defensively we are just getting minor details wrong at the moment”. Watford made a comeback in the second half by putting one across, but it was too little too late as the Gunners had already done the damage in the opening period. So we are happy now, it’s confidence for the team. New signing Roberto Pereyra stepped up to the task and scored on his Premier League debut.
Advertisement
And then of course we get down to results.
