Arsenal welcomed Watford at the Emirates Stadium earlier this afternoon as they hoped to collect maximum points in front of their home fans. The Gunners dominated the game but struggled to break the opposition down in the first half. Mikel Arteta’s players were held to a scoreless draw at half-time.
The North London outfit showed more desire to get a goal early in the second half and managed to break the deadlock in the 56th minute courtesy of Emile Smith Rowe’s goal. Juraj Kucka was given his marching orders by the referee in the latter stages as the match ended with the home side securing a narrow 1-0 victory at the English capital.
Let’s take a look at how each Arsenal player fared during the contest against the Hornets.
GK: Aaron Ramsdale – 6.5/10
The Gunners keeper made just one save in the game and secured a comfortable clean sheet at home.
RB: Takehiro Tomiyasu – 7.5/10
He got stuck in with multiple tackles to make life difficult for the Hornets and cleared his lines when needed. Tomiyasu even created a couple of good chances for his teammates.
CB: Ben White – 8/10
The English keeper made a handful of crucial clearances inside his half and made two good runs with the ball from the back.
CB: Gabriel – 7/10
The Brazilian defender kept a good shape at the back and performed well enough to secure a shutout today.
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LB: Nuno Tavares – 7/10
The Portuguese full-back was defensively solid and completed a couple of promising dribbles with the ball down the left flank.
RM: Bukayo Saka – 7/10
The English wing wizard engineered two key opportunities for others around him and was always willing to run with the ball in the Hornets half.
CM: Albert Sambi Lokonga – 6.5/10
Lokonga did a decent job anchoring the Arsenal midfield and was always willing to have a strike at goal.
CM: Ainsley Maitland-Niles – 7.5/10
He made a few solid tackles to hamper Watford’s rhythm in the game at the centre of the park and won the ball back a couple of times for his side. He was also lively in the final third.
LM: Emile Smith Rowe – 7.5/10
Smith Rowe managed to score the only goal of the game with his low, drilled shot in the 56th minute.
CAM: Alexandre Lacazette – 7/10
The French attacker worked hard to make things uncomfortable for the Watford defenders but there was no goal for him today.
ST: Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang – 6/10
The Gabon international missed a penalty in the first half and produced a lacklustre display in the second.
Substitutes:
CAM: Martin Odegaard – 6/10
He made one good run after coming off the bench.
CM: Mohamed Elneny – N/A
Elneny didn’t get enough minutes to warrant a rating.
ST: Gabriel Martinelli – N/A
Martinelli came on in the dying embers of the game.
