Arsenal win again and secure coveted fourth place


Sunday, March 6, 2022 at 4:58 PM• Rian Rosendaal

Arsenal did well on Sunday in the battle for the coveted fourth place in the Premier League. The Gunners won 2-3 against relegation candidate Watford, leaving Manchester United in the standings (48 to 47 points). The competitor for fourth place and a Champions League ticket will face Manchester City in the city derby later this Sunday. Martin Odegaard had an important part in Arsenal’s important victory at Vicarage Road with the early opening goal.

Odegaard, who seems to have the confidence of manager Mikel Arteta, struck against Watford in the fifth minute. The Norwegian attacking midfielder was custom-served by Bukayo Saka and he then put the ball into the bottom left corner, past the hopeless goalkeeper Ben Foster. Watford had already issued a warning, but Emmanuel Dennis’ goal in the opening minute was canceled due to offside. The home team’s goal came in the eleventh minute. Cucho Hernández saw a hard long shot being skilfully saved by Aaron Ramsdale a minute before. A minute later, the Colombian striker managed to find the net with an acrobatic overhead kick, much to the delight of the Watford supporters.

Thomas Partey was very close to a renewed lead for Arsenal in the 18th minute, but his shot went just past the target. After half an hour of play, the 1-2 appeared on the scoreboard for the visitors. Tom Cleverley let Saka snatch the ball just outside his own penalty area. The Arsenal attacker then entered into the combination with Alexandre Lacazette, who put the ball ready within the box. Saka lunged hard and saw the ball disappear into the right corner. Lacazette could have brought the margin to two for Arsenal two minutes later. However, his header from near the penalty spot went wide.

Lacazette clearly acted better as a reporter than as a finisher against Watford. Seven minutes after the break he put fellow attacker Gabriel Martinelli in position. The Brazilian then outwitted Foster with a placed shot from the edge of the penalty area: 1-3. Ödegaard was hoping for a penalty a minute later after being knocked down inside the box, but referee Craig Pawson refused to put the ball on the spot. In the 57th minute, Cleverley could have made up for his earlier mistake. His weak shot from inside the penalty area, however, did not unbalance Ramsdale. Dennis, whose opening goal was canceled for offside, was stopped in a promising position after more than half an hour of play by Arsenal’s alert defense.

In the 87th minute the tension returned to Vicarage Road. The cold-blooded Moussa Sissoko made no mistake only for Ramsdale: 2-3. Substitute Eddie Nketiah had hit the post shortly before. Like Nicolas Pépé, the attacker was brought in by Arteta in the final phase. In the final minute, extra defensive security was built in with the introduction of Rob Holding. Ödegaard went to the side. Arsenal survived the seven minutes of stoppage time without another setback and rise to fourth place in the Premier League with their fourth league win in a row. Leicester City will be visiting the Emirates Stadium in a week.

No. Team m W G V † Pnt
1 Manchester City 27 21 3 3 47 66
2 Liverpool 27 19 6 2 51 63
3 Chelsea 26 15 8 3 35 53
4 Arsenal 25 15 3 7 12 48
5 Manchester United 27 13 8 6 10 47
6 West Ham United 28 13 6 9 11 45
7 Tottenham Hotspur 25 13 3 9 3 42
8 Wolverhampton W. 27 12 4 11 1 40
9 Southampton 27 8 11 8 -7 35
10 Crystal Palace 28 7 12 9 1 33
11 Aston Villa 26 10 3 13 0 33
12 Leicester City 25 9 6 10 -3 33
13 Brighton & Hove Albion 27 7 12 8 -6 33
14 Newcastle United 26 6 10 10 -16 28
15 Brentford 28 7 6 15 -15 27
16 Leeds United 27 5 8 14 -32 23
17 Everton 24 6 4 14 -13 22
18 Burnley 26 3 12 11 -14 21
19 Watford 27 5 4 18 -23 19
20 Norwich City 27 4 5 18 -42 17