Man Utd’s Manuel Ugarte in doubt to face Brentford after suffering knock vs Ecuador
The nature of his injury remains unclear, but it raises concerns over his availability for Saturday’s clash at Old Trafford.
Arsenal shot-stopper Petr Cech was made to work hard for a record 200th Premier League clean-sheet as the veteran shot-stopper saved a Troy Deeney penalty in the second-half, with the Gunners getting some measure of revenge for an earlier loss by sweeping aside Watford 3-0 at the Emirates.
Following up their fine away win at AC Milan in the UEFA Europa League, Arsene Wenger’s men weren’t in a mood to take their foot off their gas and German defender Shkodran Mustafi opened the scoring in the eight minute with a precise header after compatriot Mesut Ozil had found him inside the box with a pin-point delivery.
Watford weren’t cowed, however, and kept probing the Gunners backline, with Abdoulaye Doucoure forcing a fine stop from Cech not soon after.
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Cech was called into action again via a Richarlison free-kick, but even as he proved equal to the task, Watford should have equalised on the rebound but Roberto Pereyra would send his effort high and wide to let the hosts off the hook.
The interval came with Arsenal under the cosh and the Hornets continued to apply the pressure as the second-half began, but were undone on the counter as Henrikh Mkhitaryan slipped in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and the Gabonese striker cooly rounded Orestis Karnezis before finishing into an empty net on the hour-mark.
Watford refused to go away, however, and were awarded a penalty within a minutes of conceding when Pereyra was bundled inside the box, but captain Deeney saw his effort down the middle saved by an inspired Cech.
Incidentally, that was the first-ever penalty save from the Czech custodian in an Arsenal shirt and a galvanised Gunners side made sure of the result with Mkhitaryan’s first-time finish in the 77th minute.
The North Londoners remain 12 points behind fourth-placed Liverpool and with eight games left in the season, it is highly unlikely they will finish in the top-four but Wenger’s unit are seeking to finish their campaign with a flourish and they now shift their focus to a continental clash with Milan at the Emirates on Thursday night.
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