Arsenal: Ugly Watford win an important domino to fall

While the performance was not inspiring, to say the least, Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Watford is an important first domino to fall in pursuit of Champions League qualification.

Unai Emery’s first season in charge of Arsenal has been one characterized by pivotal segments of fixtures. Starting the year off with two consecutive losses to Manchester City and Chelsea evoked a relatively well founded but cautious undercurrent of unease and trepidation. The anxiety of those two opening losses was assuaged by the 22-game unbeaten streak that saw Emery and his players forge a foundation to build upon.

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After that relatively impressive march of undefeated games came to an end at the hands of Southampton, the north London club has had to contest with several false dawns and ‘turn the corner’ moments, both in the league and Europe.

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A win over Chelsea sandwiched between losses to West Ham United and Manchester United gave the team a much-needed sliver of confidence during a very difficult period. Following an embarrassing loss to BATE Borisov, the Gunners then went on a four-game unbeaten streak that was punctuated by an impressive draw away at Wembley to Tottenham. Yet another stumbling block against Rennes had to be made right with a rousing win against top-four rivals, Manchester United.

This frenetic run of form was most recently extended when Arsenal forgot to show up at Goodison Park but easily dismissed Champions League quality opposition in Napoli at the Emirates. And when they travelled to Watford four days later, it would have been reasonable to believe that the squad might have taken steps back once again after such an important victory. By all accounts, the Gunners should have come up short. But most importantly, they claimed three points, despite the pattern of the game.

In the broader perspective of Arsenal’s season, the victory away at Watford may have been the most important result of the year. Despite being truly dreadful, they found a way to win. The performance was characterized by the strong saves of Bernd Leno, the dogged display of Laurent Koscielny, hard work from Alex Iwobi, and a completely manufactured goal from Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang.

In a game where they produced close to nothing, exhibited no control and should have been punished, all that matters is the fact that the team’s away form stabilized for the moment. Arsenal deserve to be in their current position and Monday’s victory proved it is more useful to be lucky than good sometimes.

Much like a basketball player in a shooting slump, sometimes all you need is to see the ball drop. Arsenal finally sunk a shot. It was an ugly, desperate chuck, well behind the three-point line that slammed in off the backboard with time expiring on the shot clock. But they all count the same.

Taking this momentum to Naples will be crucial and if the Gunners can get a result at San Paolo Stadium on Thursday, then away days at Molineux and King Power shouldn’t feel quite so daunting. Monday was the first domino to fall. Hopefully others will now follow suit.