Arsenal captain Granit Xhaka on Sunday said that the Gunners were lucky to escape with a point after blowing a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 at bottom-of-the-table Watford in the English Premier League.
Quique Sanchez Flores enjoyed a happy return as the Hornets manager as Tom Cleverley and Roberto Pereyra’s penalty secured a thoroughly merited share of the spoils.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang looked to have set the Gunners well on course for a comfortable three points when he struck twice in 11 minutes before halftime, but Sanchez Flores, who was appointed as Watford boss for the second time last week after one point from their opening four games of the season saw Javi Gracia sacked, roused the hosts for an impressive second-half fightback.
Photo: Reuters
“We came out and played such a bad second half. You have to say we are happy to take a point,” Xhaka said. “We were scared in the second half. We knew they would come at us and push us hard, but we have to show more character and not be scared. We have spoken about it. We cannot give a performance like this in the second half.”
Arsenal played a huge part in their own downfall as they were consistently caught in possession on the edge of their own penalty area, trying to play out from the back.
That was how Watford got a foothold back in the game when Sokratis Papastathopoulos’ pass was intercepted inside his own area by Gerard Deulofeu and the ball broke to Cleverley to fire home eight minutes into the second half.
“They controlled the match with their pressing, causing us [to make] some mistakes. Scoring the first goal gave them confidence to continue that,” Arsenal manager Unai Emery said. “That is the moment we needed calm and control.”
However, the Spaniard rebutted Xhaka’s suggestion that his side were scared.
“Maybe that is [his] individual feeling,” Emery said. “I think in football you never should be scared and you have to take that moment. We need to be strong in our mentality.”
The point saw the Gunners move level with Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Leicester City behind Liverpool and Manchester City in the early-season battle for a top-four finish.
It could easily have been worse for Arsenal when Abdoulaye Doucoure squandered the best chance of the match for a winner deep in stoppage-time when he shot too close to Bernd Leno with just the German goalkeeper to beat to leave Watford bottom of the table.
“Second half I am really happy with the reaction,” Sanchez Flores said. “It’s very difficult to do what they [the players] did against Arsenal.”
Earlier, England’s Callum Wilson netted twice as AFC Bournemouth defeated Everton 3-1.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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