Premier League winners and losers: Arsenal provide more schadenfreude
By Ty Finch
Loser: Arsenal
Take lead, try to defend lead, collapse. Rinse, repeat.
In the least shocking news of the weekend, Arsenal couldn’t find a way to defend a one-goal lead in the second half against a mid-table side. The Gunners took the lead in the first half off a Per Mertesacker bullet header, but fell apart in the dying moments of the match.
Watford are a good team under Marco Silva. They are even in a Champions League spot after the win against Arsenal. Silva gets the best out of them every game they play, and has done well in the transfer market. Still, there are few reasons a team like Arsenal should fail to, at the very least, pick up a point away from home to Watford. Unless, of course, that team is managed by Arsene Wenger.
There are jokes that have been tied up, beaten down, left for dead, revived, then beaten down again, and then there’s Arsenal blowing a game they should win. It’s not even surprising. I could barely muster a chuckle after Watford took the lead in extra time. It’s a running joke that has worn out it’s welcome. It’s The Office after Steve Carell left for greener pastures. Why even continue? What’s the point? Is life ultimately meaningless?
Sure, Arsenal fans could have a beef with the penalty call that tied the game. Hector Bellerin should feel hard done by, as there was the slightest brush of knees on Richarlison before he threw himself to the ground like he was hit by an anvil. But Mesut Ozil missed a one-on-one opportunity just minutes before that would have doubled the lead, and half the team were spectators on Watford’s winner. They have no one to blame but themselves.