Deeney, Cleverley Complete Thrilling Comeback to Shock Overwhelmed Arsenal
Arsenal found themselves on the end of a shocking 2-1 defeat against Watford on Saturday, having visited Vicarage Road and getting off to the better start.
Troy Deeney was left out of the Hornets' starting lineup in favour of summer acquisition Andre Gray, with Roberto Pereyra replacing Etienne Capoue as Marco Silva tweaked the squad that drew with West Brom last time out.
The Gunners were without star man Alexis Sanchez, with Arsene Wenger revealing that the Chilean had a slight muscular issue ahead of the match. Aaron Ramsey also missed out due to a similar problem.
Per Mertesacker, though, made his first league start for the Londoners in well over a year, replacing the injured Shkodran Mustafi, while Mesut Ozil started on the bench.
As for the match, one shot in the first 25 minutes pretty much summed up the first half, just nearly. But Mertesacker would rise to meet Granit Xhaka's corner kick to put Arsenal ahead with a powerful header in the 40th minute.
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That would be all for the half, and Wenger's men would go into halftime with a lead. But with the Hornets giving a good account of themselves, especially through Richarlison's forages forward, they would have to remain wary of the Brazilian's threat.
The second half proved a bit more entertaining as the home side took the game to Arsenal, but not without response.
Danny Welbeck, as per usual, went off with an apparent injury, and Ozil was thrown on in his place in the 60th minute.The German's impact was immediate, as he almost instantly set up Alex Iwobi with a goal. It took a good save from Heurelho Gomes to keep the scoreline at 1-0.
Iwobi returned the favour around 20 minutes from time. But the stopper stepped up to make another save, setting up a counter that ultimately cost Arsenal a penalty after Hector Bellerin fouled Richarlison in the Gunners' box.
Deeney, who had come on as a second-half substitute buried the resulting spot kick, tying the score 1-1 on 71 minutes. The Hornets nearly stung again in the late stages, Arsenal's scorer Mertesacker nearly deflecting a shot into his own goal. Fortunately for him, said shot hit the post.
The closing moments were all about Watford, who kept on piling the pressure keeping the Londoners pegged back.
Things finally paid off in the second minute of stoppage time, with Tom Cleverly blasting one into the top of the net after a bit of a scramble in the box to leave the Arsenal squad crestfallen. Silva's men were able to hold on to their lead, despite frantic attempts from Arsenal, winning 2-1 in the end.
The results leave Watford in fourth place on the table, with Crystal Palace shockingly beating a toothless Chelsea side earlier on.
