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Home   >   Match   >   [Ratings] Arsenal 3-2 Watford: Aubameyang & Martinez shine, Luiz struggles

[Ratings] Arsenal 3-2 Watford: Aubameyang & Martinez shine, Luiz struggles

By on July 26, 2020

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Arsenal finished off the season with a win after beating Watford 3-2 at the Emirates today to end up eighth in the Premier League table.

Arsenal were given the perfect opportunity to open the scoring early on after being awarded a 5th minute penalty after Alexandre Lacazette was barged over in the box. Aubmeyang made no mistake to make it 1-0.

We then doubled our lead midway through the first half when Kieran Tierney slotted home into the bottom corner for his first Arsenal goal and the Scotsman’s long throw-in then set-up Aubameyang to make it 3-0 in the 33rd minute. The Gabon hitman did superbly well to find the net with an acrobatic overhead kick to put us firmly in control.

Watford then pulled one back just before half-time when Troy Deeney converted from the spot after David Luiz had fouled Danny Welbeck in the area to give away his fifth penalty of the season.

The visitors then made it 3-2 in the 65th minute when Welbeck tapped home from close range following some poor defending and Arsenal had to hold on at times with Emi Martinez making some excellent saves to maintain our lead.

We held on to win 3-2, and with both Sheffield United and Burnley both losing today, Arsenal finish eighth in the table – three points off Tottenham and Wolves.

Here are my ratings:

Martinez  8/10 | Another fine performance. Good early save to deny Pereya with his feet and commanded his area well. Made two great saves in the second half to deny Welbeck.

Maitland-Niles  6.5/10 | Seems to bring the best out of Pepe as they saw a lot of the ball down the right flank. Perhaps AMN isn’t the best going forward but he stuck to his task well enough.

Holding  6/10 | Made a couple of important blocks and was strong in the air at times. However, his passing was poor and didn’t look comfortable playing in a back four alongside Luiz.

Luiz  5/10 | Clumsy challenge to give away his FIFTH penalty of the season. Also out of position for Welbeck’s goal. Very poor overall and is definitely better in the middle of a back three.

Tierney  7.5/10 | Great to see him scoring his first goal and set-up Auba for our third. Very solid performance. Will be a big player for us next season if he stays fit.

Ceballos  7/10 | Excellent in the first half when Arsenal were on top as he ran the show. However, faded in the second half as he tired and Watford pushed on.

Xhaka  6/10 | A pretty quiet day by his standards as he didn’t really take control of things and dictate the game. First half booking didn’t help.

Willock  5/10 | Another disappointing display from Willock and he didn’t take his opportunity to stake a claim for the cup final. Poor decision making wasted a couple of decent breaks. Carried the ball nicely at times but didn’t do much with it.

Pepe  6.5/10 | Very lively in the first half as he was making things happen but went missing when Watford improved after the break.

Aubameyang  9/10 | Where would Arsenal be without him? No mistake from the penalty spot to make it 1-0 and superb overhead kick to make it 3-0. Also set-up Tierney for his goal. Wasted a chance to get his hat-trick in the second half but was still a MOTM performance.

Lacazette  6/10 | Not his best game in truth. Won the penalty but otherwise he didn’t really have much involvement and no chances to speak of. Hopefully he was saving himself for the final.

Subs:

Nketiah  5/10 | Wasted a great chance to make it 4-2 when he passed to Auba when clean through.

Kolasinac  5/10 | Arsenal looked far more vulnerable at the back when he came on. Partially at fault for the second Watford goal.

Nelson  6/10 | Lively cameo from Nelson.

Torreira  5/10 | Added some energy to the midfield but no real impact.