It was the game between the games that matter for Arsenal and for long spells there was a stuffed Sunday lunch feeling to it all. But it turned into something palatable for Arsène Wenger – a comfortable Emirates Stadium win decorated by second‑ half flickers from the January signings Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre‑Emerick Aubameyang.
[img]http://www.officialravensproshoponline.com/images/products/nik... played in Aubameyang to make it 2-0 and, after Petr Cech had saved a penalty from the pantomime villain, Troy Deeney, Aubameyang teed up Mkhitaryan to Jal... Marshall Authentic Jersey finish for 3-0.
Arsenal’s focus has shifted from the Premier League to the Europa League, which has come to represent their only route into the Champions League next season and they are back here on Thursday night for the second leg of the last-16 tie against Milan in which they are 2-0 up from the first leg.
Wenger’s team selection had reflected his changing priorities. He http://www.shopjaguar... rested Laurent Koscielny, who he said had a slight calf problem, and Aaron Ramsey, while Jack Wilshere and Calum Chambers were used as second‑half substitutes. The latter replaced Shkodran Mustafi – the scorer of the opening goal – who limped off with a groin problem, which will be assessed on Monday.
The game had been framed, to some extent, by Deeney’s headline-grabbing comment from last October, when he questioned the cojones of the Arsenal players after Watford’s victory against them at Vicarage Road. He was the one that failed to measure up on this occasion. Deeney put his head down and blasted the penalty only for Cech to stick out a hand and beat the ball [url=http://www.canucksofficialauthenticshop.com/Igor_Larionov_Jersey_Adidas]htt... away. Schadenfreude barely covered it.
It helped Cech to his 200th Premier League clean sheet – a milestone he has waited some time to bring up. The 199th had come in the 1-0 home win over Newcastle United on 16 December. It had been the longest run of his career – 11 games – without a clean sheet. The 35-year-old was at fault for both concessions in the 2-1 defeat at Brighton last Sunday, which had followed Arsenal’s defeats against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final and the league.
“It’s quite fortunate the penalty save was against Deeney,” Wenger said with a smile, before he considered whether Deeney’s comments had served to motivate his players. “All these things come in always a little bit. How much I don’t know but, of course, it plays a part. Cech’s situation shows [url=http://www.authenticbruinsstore.com/-4-bobby-orr-jersey_c-446.html]Bobby Orr Authentic Jersey how football is. In one week he went from hell to heaven.”
It is debatable whether the Arsenal support have ascended to such a peak after this win and the Emirates was once again pockmarked by empty seats – a sign of the dissatisfaction at the club’s direction under Wenger. The manager said that the stay-aways were “understandable” after the “nightmare week” they had endured with the City defeats and the one against Brighton and he was unsurprisingly keen to dismiss it as a blip.
“We have some work to do but overall we are in a good http://www... way,” Wenger said. “This gets us out a little bit of that negative spiral we were in. There’s a lot of negativity. It’s like the rain in England – it’s easy to get. I focus on my job. I’ve shown in 22 years I can do that.”
Mustafi gave Arsenal an early lead when he eased into a seam between Adrian Mariappa and José Holebas to head home Mesut Özil’s free-kick, while Watford were indebted [url=http://www.giantsshopfootball.com/Authentic-Phil-Simms-Jersey]Phil Simms Jersey to Orestis Karnezis for first-half one-on-one saves from Aubameyang and Özil. Aubameyang also stretched for a Sead Kolasinac cross but could not quite get there. cheap jerseys from china cheap nfl jerseys wholesale nfl jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys china wholesale nfl jerseys