Marco Silva has unquestionably made an impressive start as Watford manager, but ahead of kickoff on Saturday, he still lacked a home victory. But a little more than 90 minutes later, Vicarage Road was celebrating three points for the first time this season; Tom Cleverley’s stoppage-time goal means Silva’s men leapfrog Arsenal and move into the top four. The game essentially hinged on a single minute, midway through the second half and with Arsenal 1-0 ahead. Mesut Ozil, recently summoned from the bench, was slipped through by Alex Iwobi and was one-on-one with Heurelho Gomes, but his typically weak shot was hit straight at the home goalkeeper. Seconds later, Watford’s flying left winger Richarlison was brought down by Hector Bellerin, allowing Troy Deeney to smash home the spot kick.
The first two goals of the game were scored by very different players in a similar situation: Club captains who have not seen much action this season. This was the first time in 110 matches that Arsenal’s official skipper had started, with first Mikel Arteta and now Per Mertesacker spending long periods out injured and only playing a reserve role upon their return. Mertesacker doesn’t really score enough to have a “classic goal,” but given his 6-foot-6-inch height, a bullet header would be most likely. Granit Xhaka’s out swinging, 39th-minute corner was lofted to a position only Mertesacker could reach and he duly powered past Gomes.
Deeney, meanwhile, was a substitute here and has started only once this season, but he remains reliable from the spot and his penalty set up the 92nd-minute drama that saw Watford complete yet another comeback. For the third league game in a row and the fourth time overall this season, they scored a result-changing goal in the last minute. After two Watford shots were blocked, the ball ran loose and cried out for someone to smash it home; Cleverley was in the right place at the right time to convert and send home supporters wild.
Arsene Wenger’s line-up did not feature the star duo of Alexis Sanchez and Ozil, with the former injured and the latter only fit for the bench. With Aaron Ramsey also ruled out, there was a distinct lack of attacking invention in the Arsenal XI and they largely relied upon direct play towards Alexandre Lacazette and Danny Welbeck. The two often combined very well, with decent knock-downs and lay-offs. Welbeck started in the inside-left position but often found himself in advance of Lacazette, taking up goal scoring positions when Arsenal had the ball wide. The visitors’ best move in the first half saw them combine nicely when Lacazette skipped away from a challenge in the inside-left channel before chipping the ball to the penalty spot for Welbeck, who couldn’t quite find space for a shot.
