Arsenal Blows Up the Hornets
Back in the glory days of Graham Taylor, John Barnes, et al, at Vicarage Road, Watford fans saw lots of Route 1 football.
Yesterday, they saw lots of roadkill.
More accurately, swatted Hornets.
Arsenal was firing on all cylinders as they blasted the home side, 1-3.
Well, trois points are still trois points, no matter where you find them.
Watford's best hope was for a miracle, anyway, but the Gunners brought a miracle-proof crew up the road to Hertfordshire.
On top of that, not many miracles happen when the favorite gets a shot from the spot only nine minutes after the curtain went up:
Santi Cazorla took full advantage:.
Alexis Sánchez is back in his groove, and he had no trouble doubling the lead in the 40th minute:
These days, even the machines are conspiring against underdogs.
A few years back, that probably wouldn't have been a goal.
Because referees are blind.
Mesut Özil usually assists on goal, but he capped a totally dominant first half by personally putting the boot in:
The Gunners spent the second half switching to glide.
But like every good sport, Arsenal also gave away a consolation goal so the locals had at least one reason to feel all warm and fuzzy:
Arsenal's typical defensive style finally made an appearance.
Roberto Pereyra can stick this strike on his résumé.