A truly woeful first-half performance cost Arsenal as they were on the wrong end of a shock 2-1 home defeat by Watford.
It took just 13 minutes for Arsenal's first-half nightmare to begin as goals from Younes Kaboul and Troy Deeney put Watford in the driving seat. The Gunners improved dramatically after the break, not that it was difficult given how poor the first half was.
Alex Iwobi pulled a goal back shortly before the hour mark and, although Arsenal controlled most of the second half they just couldn't find that all-important equaliser and instead dropped a big three points.
Take nothing away from Watford as they just about deserved their win after a dominant first half, but our opening 45 minutes was arguably our worst of the season and simply not good enough.
Aaron Ramsey, who was forced off with an injury after 19 minutes, sent an early volley over the bar before Watford grabbed two quick-fire goals. Etienne Capoue tapped a free-kick to Kaboul for the defender to fire home via a deflection off Ramsey. It was soon 2-0 as very poor defending allowed Capoue to run through before being denied by Petr Cech and Deeney was on hand to score from the rebound. Dream start by Watford, but terrible defending from the Gunners.
Arsenal's woes continued when Ramsey was withdrawn before the Gunners had a penalty appeal turned down when Nacho Monreal went down in the box. The full-back was shown a yellow card after what looked like a correct decision.
Cech kept Arsenal in the game with two vital saves before the break as he tipped over Sebastian Prodl's header before parrying Daryl Janmaat's effort soon after. Watford were more than worthy of their 2-0 half-time lead and we were going to need one hell of a second-half performance to turn it around.
Theo Walcott was introduced for Olivier Giroud at half-time and Arsenal started the second half with a lot more purpose than they had done in the first. The substitute shot just wide within two minutes of coming on before forcing Heurelho Gomes into a save soon after.
Gomes then produced two big saves, which went a long way to deciding the result because if he hadn't made them then maybe, just maybe, Arsenal could have nicked something from the game. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Iwobi exchanged passes before the latter's shot was superbly kept out by the Brazilian shot-stopper. Gomes was called into action again sooner after and this time produced a fine save to keep out Mesut Ozil.
Arsenal finally broke the Watford resistance after 58 minutes when great work by Alexis Sanchez saw the Chilean lift in a cross for Iwobi to steer a shot into the far corner. On another day I would have thought, 'right this is it, we are going to turn it around' because we were all over Watford at this point. But there was also a sense that it really wasn't going to be our day and so it proved.
The hosts tried to push for an equaliser with Monreal sending a volley just off target, but it was substitute Lucas Perez that came closest to snatching a point for Arsenal. The striker, who was introduced after 67 minutes, hit a thumping striker against the crossbar six minutes from time. It was a great hit and maybe deserved better, but the fact it hit the bar summed up Arsenal's day.
Arsenal continued to push forward and wasted another opportunity in stoppage time as Perez shot straight at Gomes as Watford held on for the victory.
OPPOSITION VIEW
Paul Caygill was delighted following his side's shock win at the Emirates.
"It was the best 45 minutes of the season in the first half," said Caygill. "You will find that a lot of Watford fans went there tonight expecting a drubbing.
"However I had 2-1 Watford in my head because they always do the unexpected when you least expect it. We just need to follow up with a result against Burnley on Saturday."
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
With leaders Chelsea dropping points in a 1-1 draw at Liverpool, this should've been a great opportunity to narrow the gap ahead of our trip to Stamford Bridge in our next league game.
Although I am normally an optimistic fan even I don't expect us to get anything at Chelsea, but I thought we could at least go there full of confidence and on a winning note after beating Watford. How wrong I was as we now head to our London rivals on the back of a poor defeat and with our slim title chances rapidly fading away.
No matter what happens in the rest of the title race, the Chelsea game is about so much more than that. It is not often that we win at Stamford Bridge these days so we will have a big point to prove. Play like we did in the first half and we have no chance! Play like we did when Chelsea came to the Emirates then you never know! Either way we have a point to prove! I'm nervous about the match and not convinced we can do too much at Stamford Bridge, so here's to hoping we can somehow come up with the goods and produce something special on the day.
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
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