Both sides had one defeat and a draw from the opening two league matches but Arsenal’s impressive first-half performance earned them three points.
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Xhaka had the most impressive game of his fledgling Arsenal career at the base of midfield at Vicarage Road – a performance which led Wenger to compare the Switzerland global to Emmanuel Petit.
Arsene Wenger has confirmed Valencia defender Shkodran Mustafi and Deportivo striker Lucas Perez have completed their moves to Arsenal.
The Gunners boss paid tribute to his players, but was also aware that his team were made the fight for the win against an opponent who will do well at home again this season.
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.
More attempted passes, more tackles and the most ground covered were just some of the stats the 23-year-old topped on the day which prompted Wenger to recall similar performances from ex-Gunners ace Emmanuel Petit.
Watford equal the club top flight record of conceding multiple goals in four consecutive home matches, set from November to December 1983 and equalled from November 1999 to January 2000.
Watford were given hope of a comeback early in the second half thanks to debutant Roberto Pereyra’s goal, and Petr Cech pulled off a strong double save to keep out efforts from Jose Holebas and Odion Ighalo.
It was Arsenal left celebrating a first three-point haul of the campaign. He’s a great player, we have a lot of players in this position, great players like Coquelin, Elneny, Jack Wilshere.
“He has experience of playing overseas and that is always helpful”.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger: “We had a good cushion at half-time”.
Wenger noted that Ozil dropped physically in the second half, but by then the Gunners had swept into a 3-0 lead.
“I am very pleased, I think we had an excellent first half at Watford”.
“We have 35 more games to play”, he said. We lost two main players today so the rest of the team was not quite ready for that situation. “We had to work very hard to get signings done”, he said. “We have not got any plans for anyone else now”.
A succession of thwarted chances preceded a beautifully-taken goal from Rose, although it was some woeful defending that presented him with the chance to secure a second draw in three Premier League matches this season.
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But the signing of Mustafi and Pardes is something that can cheer the fans and with Ozil, Sanchez possibly featuring the first XI, it would be nice for Arsenal to kickstart their season and to catch up with the leader board.
