Compared to the 0-1 loss to Everton in the previous round, coach Unai Emery made 6 changes to personnel compared to the match against Napoli in the middle of last week.
Leno, Mkhitaryan, Iwobi, Mustafi, Mavropanos and Xhaka all returned to the starting lineup. Notably, this is the first time Mavropanos has been placed in the starting lineup under coach Emery. Meanwhile, Ozil and Lacazette are both on the bench.
Like most away games this season, Arsenal have started the game quite poorly, especially when Watford took the initiative to attack right after the opening whistle. But the difference is that the Gunners are very lucky at Vicarage Road.
In the 10th minute, the North London team opened the scoring with no different "gift" from Watford. From a pass from his teammate, goalkeeper Ben Foster pushed the ball too long and could not handle it in the face of Aubameyang's approach. As a result, the ball was caught in Watford's net by Gabon.
After being given a goalless advantage by Foster to open the scoring, Arsenal continued to be given an advantage by Watford. In the 11th minute, the home team's striker Troy Deeney had a crushing shot at midfielder Lucas Torreira. Deeney was given a direct red card by the referee. All of this created a big advantage for Arsenal to leave Vicarage Road with 3 full points.
In fact, in the remainder of the first half, with the advantage of more players, Arsenal created an encroachment, forcing Watford to switch to defensive - counter-attacking tactics. The Gunners created some chances to double the gap but Aubameyang, Iwobi and Xhaka could not take advantage.
On the other side of the front line, despite playing with 10 men, Watford still created some dangerous situations from quick attacks. However, the pressure was not enough to prevent the home team from scoring an equalizer.
Not satisfied with the 1-goal gap, Coach Emery decided to strengthen the attack in the second half with the participation of Ozil (to replace Torreira) and Guendouzi (to replace Mavropanos). Arsenal continued to put great pressure on Foster's goal.
However, this was a match in which the Gunners' strikers failed to show their effectiveness. They wasted many opportunities from quick attacks.
Watford's underdog formation was not strong enough to put as much pressure as in the first half. The 45 minutes of the second half therefore did not witness any more situations that could create changes in the scoreboard.
The lucky 1-0 victory brought Arsenal all 3 points. The Gunners knocked Chelsea out of the Top 4 despite both getting 66 points thanks to an additional index. With Chelsea currently playing 1 match less and having 2 points more than M.U, Arsenal have the right to dream of ending the season in the Top 4.
