Arsenal player ratings vs Watford: Azeez nets in 4-1 win

Arsenal saw off Premier League Watford 4-1 on Wednesday afternoon in a behind-closed-doors friendly courtesy of goals from Eddie Nketiah, Alexandre Lacazette, Kieran Tierney and Miguel Azeez secured pre-season victory.

Mikel Arteta’s pre-season plans had been disrupted by a number of positive COVID-19 cases in their 80-strong travelling party for the Florida Cup in the United States, prompting the last-minute cancellation of the tour.

It resulted in behind-closed-doors fixtures having to be arranged instead and fortunately Millwall were available, a fixture Arsenal ran out 4-1 winners. Goals from Calum Chambers, Alexandre Lacazette, Nicolas Pepe and Folarin Balogun rounded off a solid afternoon’s work.

There were starts against the Hornets for both new boys Nuno Tavares and Albert Sambi Lokonga as well as Bernd Leno in goal, with Chambers slotting into centre-back. Ben White was just around the corner.

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Arsenal player ratings vs Watford as Eddie Nketiah, Alexandre Lacazette, Kieran Tierney and Miguel Azeez score in 4-1 win

The opener came after 15 minutes as Nketiah was fed down the line from a well-weighted Willian ball, before cutting inside and bending a fierce low effort across goal and in off the post.

Watford equalised before half-time after Mohamed Elneny was caught on the ball as Arsenal tried to play out from the back.

In complete control after the break, Arsenal got their noses in front with 20 minutes to go as Alexandre Lacazette comfortably converted from the penalty spot. That technique is poetry in motion.

As the heavens opened up, so did the goals as two more would follow for Arsenal. Lovely work from Emile Smith Rowe culminated in Kieran Tierney (with his right foot) slamming home from close range.

The best was saved for last though, with Hale End start Miguel Azeez rounding off the scoring with a delightful curling effort on his ‘weaker’ left foot with five minutes to play. He does not score bad goals. If there is such a thing, that is.

(all ratings come with the usual pre-season caveat)

Goalkeeper & Defenders

Bernd Leno (GK) – 6/10 – Made a couple of saves to his right, one that looked like it was going out of play, but was otherwise untroubled barring the scruffy goal. Didn’t play the kindest ball to Elneny in the build-up.

Cedric Soares (RB) – 5/10 – Average does as average does. Just average. Was asked to be the more reserved of the full-backs in the game and ended being guilty of some lazy passes.

Calum Chambers (CB) – 7/10 – Got tight to the his marker when covering in centre-back and showed good positioning to cover lanes for Watford forward to pass into. Was seen marshalling Mari and not the other way around.

Pablo Mari (CB) – 6/10 – Got caught for pace on a few occasions but played a few neat passes into feet.

Nuno Tavares (LB) – 5/10 – ‘Clunky’ seems like the appropriate word. Seemed to get the ball caught under his feet too often and there were a few loose passes in his second start for the club, although he did grow into the game and started to simplify his game with better running and decision making.

Midfielders

Albert Sambi Lokonga (CM) – 8/10 – Very, very tidy. Seeing how Sambi processes matches and the field of play at his age is one of the primary factors in being so excited about his potential. His passing is clean and positive, and crucially, quick.

Forward thinking with every motion, he does so with a calmness in possession that is highly impressive in someone with just 45 minutes of football under his belt at a new club. Another pleasing display.

Mohamed Elneny (CM) – 5/10 – We may have sold Dani Ceballos but silliness on the ball has just been transferred over to Elneny instead.

Trying to turn in his box with two men closing in on him (mustn’t have had a call from his goalkeeper who could have cleared) he was caught out resulting in the equaliser.

Apart from that he was on the ball plenty until Lokonga started to take over proceedings in the middle of the park.

Willian (AM) – 6/10 – Didn’t offer an awful lot into the attack but did manage to feed the occasional ball into wide areas to add width into the play – notably for Nketiah’s goal.

Was much more involved in the second half when he and Pepe interchanged.

Forwards

Reiss Nelson (RW) – 4/10 – Very poor outing for Nelson. One of those games where nothing came off for him.

Struggled to impose himself at all with numerous loose touches and passes. Not doing himself any favours of securing an inviting move away. Nor does it help Arsenal much.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (ST) – 5/10 – Was visibly frustrated at the lack of service and had to drop deep to find any possession of the ball at all. Willian didn’t offer any service centrally and Nelson’s delivery out wide didn’t help either.

Bit slack on the ball when he rarely got it.

Eddie Nketiah (LW) – 8/10 – A very impressive display from Nketiah despite being fielded out on the left. He used the space very efficiently and his goal was wonderfully taken.

Some neat touches from wide areas and made himself available for the ball throughout.

Substitutes

Alex Runarsson – 6/10 – Had precious little to do and that probably will do him good after his move to Altay in Turkey broke down. Needs something to attract interested parties.

Hector Bellerin – 6/10 – Got up and down the right flank repeatedly, looking distinctly fitter than previously, and supported Pepe well. Some crosses didn’t meet their targets but otherwise solid.

Rob Holding – 7/10 – Arsenal were much more dominating after the break with the inclusion of Pepe and Partey, which eased the pressure on Holding and allowed him to play the ball out from the back with far greater pace than Chambers had done.

Kieran Tierney – 6/10 – Always available for the pass he played as a left-winger for most of the half

Sead Kolasinac – 5/10 – Got caught ball watching about 30 seconds after coming on which opened the space for Ashley Fletcher to run into.

Thomas Partey – 7/10 – Needs to keep up this sharpness heading into the coming campaign. Started dominating the midfield as the game wore on. Passing wasn’t quite as crisp as it was against Millwall but he will be a big player for Arsenal moving forward. No doubt. Strong outing.

Miguel Azeez – 7/10 – Showed his comfort using both feet as he lined up on the left of the pivot. High technical level for a No. 6 and got himself on the scoresheet too!

Emile Smith Rowe – 7/10 – Came on and immediately lifted the technical level. Tempo and technique in abundance. Arsenal are so much better with him in the side.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles – 6/10 – Decent enough cameo from Maitland-Niles who drifted around the front line after his introduction.

Nicolas Pepe – 6/10 – Lively as ever and never shied away from a challenge, which is something that couldn’t have been said last season.

Alexandre Lacazette – 6/10 – Same as Aubameyang before him he struggled to get into the game with much of Arsenal’s play coming down wide areas. Got his penalty though, so all good.