kayode OGUNDARE:
Nigerian forward Alex Iwobi stole the show as Arsenal kept their faint hopes of the Premier League title alive with an easy 4-0 victory over a poor Watford side featuring his countryman Odion Ighalo.
The youngster, who made his international bow for the Super Eagles last week, took up from where he left off before the international break with a performance that left the Watford defence in sixes and sevens
The Gunners controlled the first half and took the lead early on when Alexis Sanchez slotted in from close range off a cross from Iwobi.
The Arsenal academy graduate then forced Heurelho Gomes into a stunning save but soon doubled their advantage by sweeping in from 12 yards out to finish off a superb team move.
Hector Bellerin’s shot deflected in for Arsenal’s third, while substitute Theo Walcott completed the rout late on.
Arsenal put on a show. They toyed with Watford. They humiliated them. They passed and they passed and they passed. They let Watford chase shadows and drove them to distraction. They played as if they were in the fun bit at the end of a training session. Which, in some ways, they are.
In the end, their visitors could stand it no longer. Midway through the second half, as Mesut Ozil lingered over the ball, the Watford right back, Allan Nyom, clattered into him and booted him up in the air. Ozil looked bemused. Nyom made some elaborate gestures with his hands that were meant to signify stepovers. It was revenge for the humiliation, the Watford defender was saying.
Arsenal were near flawless. Without ever needed to stretch themselves, they were brilliant to watch.
There is a ryder to all this, of course. There is something which renders much of it an irrelevance. The ryder is that it is probably all too late.
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