LONDON // Their hopes remain slim and the margin for error virtually non-existent, but Arsenal kept their chances of winning the Premier League title alive with a resounding victory over Watford on Saturday afternoon.
A terrific display against Quique Sanchez Flores’s men may have given further fuel to the critics who argue Arsenal are only capable of performing when the pressure is off, but a convincing showing was important to prevent the lingering bad atmosphere from descending on the Emirates Stadium once more.
The introduction to the first team of Alex Iwobi has certainly helped lift the mood around the red-and-white half of north London in recent weeks, with the gifted 19-year-old turning in his best display yet in the 15th appearance of his professional career.
Iwobi has injected some fresh vim and vigour into an Arsenal team that felt a little stale a month or so ago.
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He was named man of the match in the 2-0 triumph at Everton — his first ever Premier League start — last time out and picked up where he left off against Watford, scoring one, creating another and generally proving to be a constant thorn in the visitors’ side.
“Yes, that’s one of his qualities,” Wenger said in his post-match news conference when Iwobi’s fearlessness was noted. “He’s very mobile, he’s a midfielder who’s creative, but he’s a finisher as well.”
Arsenal began the game strongly, barely allowing Watford a touch in the opening stages as they poured forward in search of an early goal.
That arrived just four minutes into the encounter, Iwobi chipping a fine cross to the back post where Alexis Sanchez was on hand to turn the ball home at the second time of asking. That early strike made it much easier for the hosts to continue in the confident manner with which they started the match, with Iwobi a key part of their attacking exploits throughout the first period.
Nominally positioned out on the left flank, the teenager drifted right across the pitch in search of the ball, even popping up on the right-hand side and dropping into midfield positions to receive possession on occasion.
Overall, though, his average position map showed that Iwobi most frequently occupied areas of the pitch usually associated with a No 10. It was from a central area that he grabbed Arsenal’s second, Sanchez’s cutback swept past Heurelho Gomes to double the home side’s advantage.
Iwobi almost helped himself to another in the second half, rattling an effort against the crossbar after cutting inside from the right and turning past centre-back Craig Cathcart inside the box.
There was a swagger and spark to the Nigeria international’s play right up until his substitution in the 74th minute, when he departed the pitch to a standing ovation from a crowd that has witnessed the blossoming of numerous talented youngsters over the years.
“We have values in our club that are maybe not always rated,” Wenger asserted with an air of defiance. “One of those values is to give a chance to young people and educate them. Every year we bring players out. Not many clubs can say that.
“Iwobi is one of them. He arrived at the age of seven or eight, so he’s completely integrated in the way we want to play football.”
This season’s Premier League title has, in all likelihood, already gone, leading many Arsenal followers to question whether Wenger is still the right man for the job going forward.
It will surely be the Frenchman alone who decides when a new manager takes over, but the fact that there is such a split in the fan base on that fundamental question makes the club’s future look rather uncertain.
In the extremely promising Iwobi, though, those supporters have at least one reason to be excited about things to come.
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